Grocery inflation in Irish supermarkets reached 4.69% a year in the 12 weeks to 4 October, according to Worldpanel by Numerator. That is a retail-analyst figure, not the statistics office. The Irish Times wrote 4.7%. RTE gave 4.69%. Neither is the official food-price inflation rate.

Against the previous 12-week spell the rate rose from 4.28%, RTE writes. The Examiner puts the September jump, from 3.87% in August, as the end of four months of easing. The Irish Times says the pace is up by almost a point since the August data. That is the same Worldpanel series, not the CPI.

The CSO measured food and non-alcoholic drinks at 0.4% a year to September. RTE underlines the gap. Anyone who sets 4.69% beside 0.4% as if they were one index is mixing a supermarket basket with a consumer basket.

Take-home grocery sales rose 4.3% in the four weeks to 4 October against the same weeks in 2025. RTE adds more frequent trips (+2.9%) and fewer items per trip (-5.7%). Promotions took about 21% of spend.

On market share Dunnes remains first at 24.8%, then Tesco 24%, SuperValu 18.8%, Lidl 14.6% and Aldi 10.8%. Lidl had the strongest annual growth among the chains, 8.3%, RTE writes. That is not a ranking of inflation by shop.

Eimear Faughnan, of Worldpanel, said people are shopping little and often and watching the offers. The Irish Times illustrated what 4.7% would mean for a household spending 200 euros a week. That is an example, not a state account. The data stop at 4 October.

Image: WestportWiki, Tesco Greystones, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; a store, not the index.

Sources consulted: Grocery inflation nudging 5 per cent according to fresh data - The Irish Times; Grocery price inflation hits 4.69% in October - Worldpanel by Numerator - RTE.