Bidenflation: Turkey Prices Up 23% as Thanksgiving Approaches

This will likely be the most expensive Thanksgiving meal in the history of the holiday.

Food prices are up 10.5 percent compared with last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And the prices of turkeys are up even more than that. The weighted average price of frozen turkeys between 8 and 16 pounds rose to $1.41 per pound, a 22.6 percent gain over last year’s $1.15, according to data published Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fresh turkeys, defined as those never chilled below 26 degrees, of the same size are selling for $1.47.08, which is 11.1 percent above last year’s level.

In a note to clients, analysts at Bank of America said that the average price of a 15-pound turkey was up 25 percent year over year.

Prices are already higher even though Turkey purchases have been running below last year’s level. Note, however, that this data only runs through November 5th because the USDA has not yet released whole bird purchasing activity data for the current week.