Consultancy company’s latest data for the Irish grocery market points to a possible end to accelerating price rises here.

Prices were 15.8% higher from a year earlier in the 12 weeks before June 11, a drop from the 16.5% seen in the previous report from Kantar.

While the move lower in the pace of inflation is welcome, the fact that it still stands at such a high level will remain a concern for policymakers.

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Consumers

Consumers continue to do their best to reduce costs when doing their shopping, with supermarket-owned labels and the value of these labels again showing increases in market share.

There are also signs in the report that consumers are more likely to purchase items that are on promotion than they were last year.

Importantly, the Kantar inflation number is based on a fixed basket of goods. If consumers opt to buy cheaper brands or items on offer, then their personal level of inflation would be lower than the 15.8% they would have experienced if they did not change their shopping habits.

Of the major supermarkets, Dunnes retains the largest market share at 22.9%, while Tesco is a very close second at 22.6%. Discounters Lidl and Aldi had a combined 26% of the market in the period.