Grocery prices rising more than 6% as key spending season begins

Shoppers are already getting into the Christmas spirit, spending an additional €8m on boxed chocolates

Overall grocery sales rose 5.5% last month.

Food prices in Ireland are rising more than twice the general inflation rate, with supermarket spending by Irish households jumping by €64m over the past 12 weeks.

Food items at the supermarket till now cost 6.06% more than they did for the same period last year. This is a slight moderation on the 6.6% figure for the previous 12-week period, but it remains above the general inflation rate of 2.9% as measured by the CSO.