Numbers released on Monday morning by consumer insights specialist Kantar showed that grocery inflation in Ireland continues to fall - slowly.

Prices in the 12 weeks to October 1 2023 were 10.5% above the same level a year ago.

The speed of the increase is lower than that reported a month ago when it was at 11.3%. The 10.5% rate is the lowest level reported in more than a year and marks the fifth monthly drop in row.

However, as business development director at Kantar Emer Healy says “the fact is that inflation remains high”.

Own-label options

The Kantar basket of goods used to measure the cost of groceries does not change, so consumers will probably be able to reduce their personal shopping costs by buying more own-brand and supermarket discount goods.

This is reflected in Kantar’s data on what people are buying, with value own-label ranges - generally the cheapest products available - showing the strongest growth of any segment, posting a 13% rise in market share.

The Central Statistics Office’s wider measure of consumer price inflation came in at 6.3% for September.

Unlike the Kantar data, that number has increased for two months in a row, mostly driven by mortgage payment costs and energy prices.