Spending on groceries tops €13.5bn as price inflation continues to bite

Kantar says Irish grocery inflation is cooling but that consumers' supermarket spend rose €1bn in a year due to rising prices

The €13.5bn spent in the 52 weeks to early July is up from €12.5bn spent over the same period a year earlier.

Shoppers spent €13.5bn at supermarkets in the 52 weeks to early July, an increase of €1bn from the same period last year, reflecting the fallout of higher prices at the tills.

The figures come from market research firm Kantar which also reported that the pace of Irish grocery inflation cooled somewhat, but was still running at the elevated annual rate of 14.7%. 

The €13.5bn spent in the 52 weeks to early July is up from €12.5bn spent over the same 52-week period a year earlier, and €12.8bn in sales for the 2022 calendar year.

Kantar said its latest inflation reading of 14.7% was down from 15.8% in June, and represented “a new low this year”. 

The readings are based on it surveying the spending of 5,000 households in the Republic, and the prices of 30,000 grocery items.

The five dominant supermarket chains — Dunnes, Tesco, SuperValu, Lidl, and Aldi — accounted for over 92% of grocery sales in the latest 12 week period, the Kantar figures show. 

The rest of the market, accounting for a share of only 7.6%, was fought over by symbol chains and independent outlets.

Dunnes narrowly kept Tesco at bay as the largest supermarket by sales in the latest period.

“This is the second month in a row there has been a drop in inflation, which is welcome news for shoppers,” said Kantar business development director Emer Healy.

“Although the rate is still high, with just a 1% drop since January, we expect to see further gradual decline over the coming months,” she said.