Monthly supermarket spending surges by more than €90m

Further evidence of the rapid rise in food prices

Consumers spent €1.2bn in supermarkets and grocery stores in May, an increase of €91.5m on the same month last year.

Supermarket spending by Irish households has surged by more than €90m as further data confirms the impact food inflation is having on consumers.

Monthly credit and debit card spending tracked by the Central Bank shows consumers spent €1.2bn in supermarkets and grocery stores in May, an increase of €91.5m on the same month last year and an increase of €136m on May 2023.

Supermarket spending is the category with the highest value of card spending by Irish consumers each month. The cost of living crisis saw general inflation in Ireland peak at 9.2% in October 2022, largely due to a surge in energy prices. While the inflation rate has fallen to below the 2% mark, food inflation has remained stubbornly high.

Data from the CSO, published this week, reports a food inflation rate of 4.3% over the past year. Analyst Kantar, who monitors supermarket prices in Ireland, reported an inflation rate of more than 5%. The card spending data from the Central Bank shows an 8.2% rise in supermarket spending over the past year.

Overall card spending in May amounted to €9.34bn, a 9.28% rise on May 2024. The average Irish resident spent €37.70 per transaction in May, up 2.91% on last year and in line with the CSO's Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure of 1.7%.

Irish consumers spent €3.67bn online in May and €4.06bn in-store. Spending of €1.61bn was recorded for Irish consumers abroad.

The Central Bank noted that the warm weather in May likely impacted the €16m monthly rise in spending in 'Drinking Places' while Irish households increased their spending in restaurants and dining establishments €43m compared to April.

Spending on education reached €69m, rising almost 10% compared to April. The sub-category of 'Elementary, Secondary Schools’ was largely behind the rise in spending by Irish households, with a €6.1m, or 90.5% increase from the previous month, possibly driven by spending amid Leaving Certificate examinations and tutoring.

The Central Bank also monitors monthly cash withdrawals from ATMs. In May, the value of total withdrawals amounted to €1.16bn, up 7.10% on April but falling 7.42% compared to May of last year. The average withdrawal amounted to €145.83 in May.