After a spike in inflation during the pandemic, Americans continue to face rising prices, especially for essentials like food. But there’s another, less obvious trend that can be just as painful to your wallet, even when product costs appear to be stable. That’s shrinkflation.
Of the roughly 100 common consumer products LendingTree tracks, about one-third have shrunk in size or portion size since the pandemic. The worst offenders are household paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels, according to an analysis by a personal finance company.
More specifically, shrinkflation refers to shrinking the size of a product while charging the same amount as the previous larger portion. As a result, people end up spending more money on a particular product because they get less of it.
To be sure, shrinkflation is by no means a new consumer phenomenon. The term was coined by British economist Pippa Malmgren in 2009, but the trend accelerated in the post-pandemic years as companies grappled with rising manufacturing costs. Rather than raise prices and potentially lose shoppers, some companies have chosen to downsize their products while continuing to charge the same amount.
August inflation Recorded lowest price in 3 years. That doesn’t necessarily mean prices are falling. In fact, the pace of price growth has slowed sharply compared to the extraordinary spikes experienced during the pandemic, when inflation reached a 40-year high. However, shrinkflation remains an issue in many products, with nearly 7 in 10 consumers saying they have noticed this trend at least once in the past year, according to LendingTree. .
“A third of these products have shrunk, and some categories have seen even larger percentages shrink,” Matt Schultz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, told CBS MoneyWatch. The fact that this has been discovered is alarming.” “Nobody likes high prices, but people will be willing to pay a little more if there is a cheaper alternative for the same price and they are not told about it.”
Shultz points out that shrinkflation can be difficult to document or even recognize, given that many people don’t have old packaging for items like toilet paper or cereal on hand to compare with new ones. did. LendingTree tracked this issue by comparing Walmart prices in 2024 with prices in 2019-2020 via Wayback Machine, a site that archives web pages from past months and years. .
Still, many consumers weren’t fooled, and the trend drew condemnation from everyone at Cookie Monster, who declared in August on X:I hate shrinkflation! ” told President Joe Biden because the cookies would be smaller. called The snack company halted its rollback in February.
A similar trend is “stingyflation,” where people reduce the quality of products and services to save money, such as changing to cheaper ingredients or cutting back on services at hotels and restaurants.
Products with the highest shrinkage rate
LendingTree’s analysis found that household paper products had the highest shrinkflation rates. Of the 20 products tracked from before the pandemic to now, about 60% had reduced sheet count, the study found. (According to the data, only one item, Scott’s 2-pack of multipurpose shop towels, saw its price drop per 100 items.)
Breakfast foods have the second highest shrinkflation rate, with LendingTree finding that approximately 44% of the items tracked are sold in portions. Kellogg’s family-sized Frosted Flakes were slimmed down from 24 ounces to 21.7 ounces, resulting in a 40% increase in price per ounce, the analysis found.
Currently, about 38% of candy products are available in small quantities, such as party-sized Reese’s Miniatures (currently 35.6 oz., 40 oz. in 2019-2020) and party-sized milk chocolate M&M’s (previously 42 oz., now 38 oz.). It is sold at.
About 27% of snacks have had their portion size reduced, according to LendingTree. That includes Frito-Lay’s party-sized Cheetos, which rose from 17 cents to 40 cents per ounce but shrunk from 17.5 ounces to 15 ounces.
Other snacks that have gotten smaller but more expensive include party-sized Sour Cream and Onion Lays, family-sized Original Wheat Thins, and party-sized Original Tostitos, according to LendingTree.
The impact of shrinkflation on finances
Shultz said shrinkflation could make it more difficult for consumers to provide for their finances.
“Generally speaking, the average American’s margin for financial error is very small. This is another thing that makes things a little more difficult,” he said.
Schulz added that items whose prices are rising due to inflation may be easier to budget for because shoppers can clearly see the higher prices and reflect them in their spending.
“But if the price of what you’re buying is the same but the price has gone down, it won’t be immediately noticeable and can strain your budget,” he says.
