US candy and chocolate sales

As American candy sales have grown, UK pint prices have risen, a transatlantic correlation of 0.988 that connects American sweet teeth to British drinking habits with the economic confidence of two inflation curves that have never met but look identical on a chart. The candy costs more in Walmart, the pint costs more in Weatherspoon's, and the chart spans the Atlantic like a trade agreement nobody negotiated.

Candy sales grew from about 30 billion to over 42 billion dollars between 2010 and 2022. UK pint prices grew from about £3.00 to over £4.60. Both are inflation stories in consumer-facing industries: candy prices rose with ingredient and packaging costs, pint prices rose with energy, labor, and ingredient costs. The shared variable is global inflation affecting consumer goods in developed economies. Neither the candy nor the pint is aware of the other's price increase.

Eleven years of candy and pint prices is inflation in stereo: the same economic forces pushing prices up in American grocery aisles are pushing prices up in British pubs, and the chart simply records both from different continents. The wrapper costs more, the glass costs more, and the correlation is just the cost of living, measured in sugar and hops.