August 2026

Beef and veal price index

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures the change in what households pay for beef and veal. The figures below are for the month of August 2026.

519.096index level, August 2026
+5.88%change over 12 months
-0.60%change over 1 month

Last 24 months

MonthIndex (1982–84=100)Change from previous month
August 2024430.328+0.32%
September 2024431.790+0.34%
October 2024426.449-1.24%
November 2024433.911+1.75%
December 2024433.225-0.16%
January 2025434.386+0.27%
February 2025443.105+2.01%
March 2025450.262+1.62%
April 2025453.243+0.66%
May 2025455.104+0.41%
June 2025465.866+2.36%
July 2025477.484+2.49%
August 2025490.280+2.68%
September 2025495.239+1.01%
November 2025502.259not available
December 2025504.317+0.41%
January 2026499.597-0.94%
February 2026506.788+1.44%
March 2026504.885-0.38%
April 2026520.433+3.08%
May 2026513.773-1.28%
June 2026521.049+1.42%
July 2026522.219+0.22%
August 2026519.096-0.60%

What an index is

Each index is a price level for one kind of food, scaled so that the average for 1982–84 equals 100. Because the starting point is arbitrary, read an index by its change over time, not by comparing the level of one item against another.

A change of +5.88% over 12 months means the index stood at 490.280 in August 2025 and moved to 519.096 in August 2026. Where a month has no value, the table says not available; no figure here is estimated.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted. Data month: August 2026. Record: series CUUR0000SEFC, item code SEFC.