Grocery spending rises €1 bln
Consumers in Greece spent a billion euros more at supermarkets last year compared to 2022, not so much to buy a lot more things, but because of inflation.
The price increases in the main product categories ranged from 3.2% to 11%, with detergents and cleaners emerging as “champions” of inflation – and in recent months they have been targeted by the Ministry of Development – while cumulative price increases in the two years 2022 and 2023 exceeded 20% in some categories.
According to data from market research firm Circana, total supermarket sales in 2023 reached €11.79 billion, compared to €10.71 billion in 2022, registering an increase of around 10%. It should be noted that in 2022 Greeks also paid €1.06 billion more for approximately the same volume of products, as in 2022 a marginal increase in sales volume was recorded, by just 0.5% compared to 2021.
In 2023, based on data for the main categories of supermarket items (these are the so-called “fast-moving consumer goods” or FMCGs), a 2.5% increase in sales volume was recorded, with the increase at the same time of turnover reaching 9.3%. In other words, an average unit price increase of 6.6% was recorded.
It is worth noting that the first quarter of 2023 saw a significant decrease in sales volume, even reaching 6.6% in March 2023, which is largely related to the very large increase in prices during that period. In February 2023 the average price rise per unit soared to 11.5%, and “sinking” demand during the following month.
Detergents and cleaners, products that are sold to a very large extent under offers, were the ones that recorded the largest price increase in 2023, 11% compared to 2022. Notably, already in 2022 a price increase was recorded in the same category by 8.4%, so in 2022-2023 the specific product category went up by 19.4%.
Prices increased by 8.8% in 2023 (compared to 2022) in cooking materials, a category that includes products such as flour, sauces, olive oil etc. In 2022-2023 they grew 20.8%.
