Aldi crowned the cheapest supermarket of 2024, Which? reveals
Each month during 2024, Which? tracked thousands of grocery prices across eight of the UK’s biggest supermarkets (Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose) to find out how much each shop was charging for everyday items.
Aldi was the cheapest supermarket for all 12 months of the year. The consumer champion’s research found shoppers who stocked up at the German discounter would have saved £393 on average compared to the most expensive alternative over the course of the year.
The results for the final month of the year in December showed a shopping list of 56 groceries was £100.29 on average at Aldi.
In December, fellow discounter Lidl was just behind Aldi, as it has been every month in 2024. A shop cost £1.19 more (£101.48) with the supermarket’s loyalty scheme Lidl Plus and £1.27 more (£101.56) without.
Waitrose was £29.54 pricier than Aldi in December, at £129.83, and was the most expensive supermarket every month for the smaller shop throughout 2024.
The list of 56 items analysed by Which? in December included both branded and own-brand items, such as Birds Eye Peas, Hovis bread, milk and butter.
The analysis includes special offer prices and loyalty prices where applicable, but not multibuys.
Each month, Which? also compares the cost of a larger trolley of more than 150 items. This includes a larger number of branded items and does not include discounter supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, as they do not always stock some of these products.
Asda was the cheapest supermarket for a larger trolley for nine months of the year, but it has been facing a strong challenge from Tesco Clubcard prices, which have made Tesco cheaper in three out of seven months since Which? began including loyalty prices in its analysis from June 2024.
This month, for a bigger shop of 158 items, Tesco (with a Clubcard) was the cheapest on average at £410.40, followed by Sainsbury’s (with a Nectar card) at £412.14 and Morrisons (with a More card) at £414.06. Asda came fourth in December with a trolley costing £415.56.
Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket for a larger trolley of items every month in 2024 apart from September. In December, a Waitrose shop cost a total of £458.12 on average.
Which?’s pricing analysis demonstrates that shoppers can make considerable savings on their groceries depending on where they buy their food.
Harry Rose, Editor of Which? magazine, said:
“Our research shows Aldi has retained its crown as the UK’s cheapest supermarket in 2024.
“A shopper would have saved £393 on average, over the course of a year by choosing to shop at the German discounter rather than the most expensive alternative.
“After the added expense of the festive period, many households will be looking to cut costs. Our analysis shows that by switching supermarkets, shoppers can make significant savings, highlighting the advantages of shopping around where possible."
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
Research
Each month Which? compares how much supermarkets charge for a selection of groceries (this month 56 items). The data are taken, based on availability across supermarkets that month, from our longer list of around 200 items (this month 158 items). This list is made up of some of the UK’s most popular groceries, based on industry data on sales value and availability. We include special offers and loyalty discounts where it applies but not multibuys.
Because the main list of around 200 groceries remains unchanged from month to month (other than being refreshed occasionally to reflect consumer shopping habits), Which? never shares the full list of products with retailers as we want to avoid any attempt to skew the results. We do not want supermarkets to compete with one another to lower prices only on the items they know they will be judged on. Instead we want retailers to work to make groceries affordable across the depth and breadth of their available lines.
Full table of basket results for December (based on 56 items):
| Retailer | Average price |
| Aldi | £100.29 |
| Lidl (with Lidl Plus) | £101.48 |
| Lidl (without Lidl Plus) | £101.56 |
| Tesco (with Clubcard) | £111.22 |
| Sainsbury's (with Nectar) | £112.13 |
| Tesco (without Clubcard) | £112.90 |
| Asda | £113.22 |
Full table of trolley results for December (based on 158 items):
| Retailer | Average price |
| Tesco (with Clubcard) | £410.40 |
| Sainsbury's (with Nectar) | £412.14 |
| Morrisons (with More) | £414.06 |
| Asda | £415.56 |
| Morrisons (without More) | £426.86 |
| Tesco (without Clubcard) | £440.40 |
| Ocado | £444.12 |
Average price
We check the prices of scores of grocery items at eight major supermarkets every day throughout the year, using an independent price comparison website. For each supermarket, we work out the average price of each item across the month, then add those up to get each store’s average price.
Our shopping list comprises the country’s most popular and widely available groceries, based on extensive market analysis. It includes branded items such as Cathedral City cheddar and Hellmann's mayonnaise, as well as own-brand products such as potatoes and baked beans.
Own-brand items won’t be identical across supermarkets, but we’ve ensured everything we’ve compared is as similar as possible based on a number of factors, including quality and weight.
Loyalty pricing
Which? looked at loyalty pricing for Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Waitrose, but none of the items on our shopping list had a loyalty price at Waitrose this month.
Asda's Rewards scheme offers cashback on products with loyalty promotions. For example, members would have earned £1.05 cashback on average on our bigger shop of 158 items. We haven't factored this into our main analysis because loyalty members don't receive a discount on the day and the cashback is only redeemable at Asda, within a limited period (up to nine months) and in increments of £1.
As there are restrictions on who can access loyalty prices, Which? will only award a cheapest supermarket endorsement to the retailer with the lowest prices that are available to all consumers.
Useful links:
Cheapest supermarket monthly analysis - big and small shop
Millions of people excluded from lower prices at big stores
How to spend less at the supermarket
About Which?
Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. Our research gets to the heart of consumer issues, our advice is impartial, and our rigorous product tests lead to expert recommendations. We’re the independent consumer voice that influences politicians and lawmakers, investigates, holds businesses to account and makes change happen. As an organisation we’re not for profit and all for making consumers more powerful.
The information in this press release is for editorial use by journalists and media outlets only. Any business seeking to reproduce information in this release should contact the Which? Endorsement Scheme team at endorsementscheme@which.co.uk.