USDA ERS Food Dollar Data Tables

Name: USDA ERS Food Dollar Data Tables
Published: 2017-04-17
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
FoodDollarDataReal.csv	text/csv	389 KB	04/17/2017 07:47:AM
NominalData.csv	text/csv	579.7 KB	04/17/2017 07:47:AM

Project Citation:

United States Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service. USDA ERS Food Dollar Data Tables. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-04-19. https://doi.org/10.3886/E100550V2

Project Description

Project Title: USDA ERS Food Dollar Data Tables

Summary:

The food dollar series measures annual expenditures by U.S. consumers on domestically produced food. This data series is composed of three primary series—the marketing bill series, the industry group series, and the primary factor series—that shed light on different aspects of the food supply chain. The three series show three different ways to split up the same food dollar.

Nominal Data

The FoodDollarDataNominal.xls file and the NominalData.csv file include statistics reported in current year dollars. In the data rows, each row statistic covers a unique combination of year, unit of measurement, table number, and category number. These are defined as follows:YEAR: 1993 to 2015UNITS: reported in both cents per domestic food dollar and total domestic food dollars ($ millions)

Real Data

The FoodDollarDataReal.xls file and the FoodDollarDataReal.csv file include statistics reported in constant year 2009 dollars. Since the March 30, 2016 update, 2006 data in cents per domestic real food dollar units have been added to the real food dollar series.In the data rows, each row statistic covers a unique combination of year, unit of measurement, table number, and category number. These are defined as follows:YEAR: 1993 to 2014UNITS: reported in both cents per domestic food dollar and total domestic food dollars ($ millions)

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Microdata: Yes

Level of Analysis: Groups - Category Number

Variables Present: Yes

File Layout: .csv

Codebook: No

Methods: No

Weights (with appropriate documentation): No

Publications: No

Aggregate Data: Yes

Original Distribution URL: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-dollar-series/download-the-data/

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: food; household expenditures; food costs; agricultural markets; agricultural workers

Geographic Coverage: United States

Collection Date(s): 1/1/1993 – 12/31/2015

Data Type(s): aggregate data

Methodology

Data Source: ERS's national input-output food dollar time series is based on three data sources:

Annual input-output (IO) data published every even-numbered year by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;
Data from the 1997, 2002, and 2007 detailed U.S. benchmark IO accounts published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA); and
IO data published annually by the BEA.

Using conventional IO analysis, the annual food marketing bill series is estimated for all available years from 1993 to 2015. The current data for 2015 are preliminary and subject to revision. The real (inflation-adjusted) 2014 data are also available.Supply chain IO analysis is used to determine where food dollars end up (as income) by tracing the market value-added measures for 12 supply chain industry groups (industry group food dollar series) and for primary production factors (primary factor food dollar series). All estimates are reported in both nominal (current price) and real (inflation-adjusted) dollars.With data for the 1997, 2002, and 2007 detailed U.S. benchmark IO accounts forming the basis for ERS's food dollar series, BLS's IO data are used to index all of the 1997 food dollar series for annual estimates for 1993 to 1996. BLS IO data are used to index all 2007 food dollar series forward to annual estimates for the years 2008 to the present. The same BLS IO data are used to produce a chain-weighted index for each food dollar series for the years between benchmark estimates—1998 to 2006.With the BEA release of the 2007 detailed benchmark IO account in early 2014, a 2007 ERS benchmark was added for each food dollar series; the same chain-weighted indexing methods were applied to update series data for the years 2003 to 2006, while the indexing procedures currently used to update the 2002 benchmark series data were applied to the 2007 benchmark. Additionally, all series data for the years 1993 to 2002 were revised due to minor changes in the estimation methodology (see Why Revise the Entire Historical Food Dollar Series?). For more detail on these data sources and estimation methods, see the 2011 report below:A Revised and Expanded Food Dollar Series: A Better Understanding of Our Food CostsTo update BLS annual IO data released in even-numbered years (or the base year account) to an interim year account reported in odd-numbered years, ERS uses a mathematical programming model to reconcile the more detailed base year account with the less detailed interim year account. The mechanics of this process are the same as is described in the ERS report A Revised and Expanded Food Dollar Series: A Better Understanding of Our Food Costs (link above, see page 39, equations A22 to A24), with the added dimension of bringing the accounts forward one year.

Related Publications

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Published Versions

V2 [2026-04-19]

V1 [2017-04-17]

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