价格上限是指政府设置出售一种物品的法定最高价格，经常用于防止消费者买不到必需品的情况。

当政府受消费者抱怨的推动，对市场实行价格上限时，可能有两种结果。当价格上限高于供求平衡的价格时，价格上限是非限制性的，市场力量自然而然地使经济向均衡变动，价格上限对价格或销售量没有影响。当价格上限低于供求平衡的价格时，价格上限对市场有一种限制性约束，就产生了物品的短缺，而且卖者必须在大量潜在买者中配给稀缺物品。

A price ceiling is a government-imposed price control or limit on how high a price is charged for a product. Governments intend price ceilings to protect consumers from conditions that could make necessary commodities unattainable. However, a price ceiling can cause problems if imposed for a long period without controlled rationing. Price ceilings can produce negative results when the correct solution would have been to increase supply. Misuse occurs when a government misdiagnoses a price as too high when the real problem is that the supply is too low. In an unregulated market economy price ceilings do not exist.