GROCERY INFLATION IN Ireland is slowing but prices are still rising rapidly, with an increase of 12.8% in the past 12 weeks.

New figures from data firm Kantar indicate that grocery sales in Ireland rose last month, but this is primarily due to the rising cost of products and not increased purchasing.

The rise of 12.8% in the 12 weeks to 6 August compares to a 14.7% increase in the 12 weeks to 9 July.

The most recent figure is the lowest level of grocery inflation since last November.

Irish shoppers are also making slightly fewer trips to the supermarket – a drop of 0.5%, from 20.1 trips in July to 19.6 in August.

Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar, said: “This is the third month in a row where there has been a drop in grocery inflation, which is welcome news for Irish consumers, although the rate is still incredibly high.

“Compared to last month’s grocery inflation rate of 14.7% there has been a significant drop of 1.9 percentage points.

“This is the lowest level we have seen over the past 10 months, and we expect to see a continued gradual decline in inflation rates over the coming months.

“The good news is that the slowdown in grocery inflation is starting to come through in prices on the shelf.

“Compared to May 2023, when grocery inflation hit its highest peak of 16.5%, we are starting to see a slight decline in average prices on essential lines. As a result, we are spending €0.36 less on butter, milk and cheese combined.”

Almost a quarter of all supermarket sales are for items on promotion, or 24.8%. Sales of own-brand goods were up 13% in the last 12 weeks, with those products retaining a slightly higher share of the market than branded goods.

Sales of barbeques, chilled burgers, prepared salads and grills went down last month, likely as a result of the bad weather. Sales of ice cream were down €2.5 million compared to last year.

Confectionary sales rose by €4.7 million year on year, with ‘warm’ products such as soup and hot beverages more popular than this time last year.

Healy said: “Buying own label lines is one of the ways in which Irish consumers have been trying to save money at the tills and we can see the impact of this on their spend.

“The average increase in the household weekly grocery shop is €9.10 compared to last year, well below the extra €17.80 shoppers would have paid if they bought the same items 12 months ago based on the current rate of inflation”.

Dunnes and Tesco are the most popular Irish supermarkets, both holding 22.6% of the market share.

SuperValu holds 20.9% of the market, with its shoppers making the most trips in store compared to all retailers – 22.2 trips on average.

Overall, supermarket footfall has dropped continuously for the past five months – shoppers made 882,000 fewer trips last month compared to the month before.

Lidl and Aldi hold 13.8% and 12.6% of the market share respectively.