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Food price inflation tracker: what's happening to grocery costs at the supermarket?
Ellie is an award-winning investigative reporter who has written about retail issues at Which? for 13 years.
Olivia is an investigative journalist covering sustainability and retail issues. She's been at Which? for 15 years.
The groundbreaking Which? supermarket inflation tracker reveals the supermarkets – and types of food and drink – with the fastest-rising prices.
Overall, food price inflation is fluctuating after a period when it had started to fall. It had reached one of its highest levels in more than 40 years during the height of the cost of living crisis. Some experts have warned of further increases later this year – mainly due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Ours was the first publicly available tracker to focus solely on supermarket food and drink price inflation. We run it regularly, analysing tens of thousands of prices to reveal:
- which supermarkets have the highest and lowest inflation
- which types of food and drink are rising in price the fastest
- how branded groceries compare with own-label ones
- whether budget ranges or more premium products are going up in price more quickly.
Our tracker looks at 20 popular categories of food and drink at eight supermarkets: Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. It compares prices across a one-month period year on year, including discounts but not multibuys or loyalty card offers. We weight the figures based on supermarket market share and the sales volume of each product category.
Food inflation in 2026
When we analyse annual food inflation, we look at prices over the past month compared with the same period a year earlier.
In September 2026, annual inflation was 2.2%, a slight fall from 2.4% in August.
This graph shows how food price inflation has changed over the past four years:
Source: Which? supermarket Inflation Tracker. Inflation is annual, based on a one-month period compared with the same time a year earlier. The number of products included each month varies between 23,000 and over 28,000. The tracker moved from running monthly to once every three months starting in December 2023 until May 2026, when it ran monthly again.
- Find out more: how to spend less at the supermarket
Which supermarket has the fastest-rising prices?
The latest figures show that products at Asda have the highest inflation, with prices up 3.1% year on year in September. It was followed by Sainsbury's at 3.0%. Products at Aldi had the lowest inflation; prices overall didn't rise at all in September.
| Supermarket | Annual inflation for the month of September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Asda | 3.1% |
| Sainsbury's | 3.0% |
| Waitrose | 2.9% |
| Tesco | 2.8% |
| Morrisons | 1.7% |
| Ocado | 1.5% |
| Lidl | 0.4% |
| Aldi | 0.0% |
Source: Which? supermarket Inflation Tracker.
While some minor price variation may exist due to differing prices at stores across the country, this is unlikely to affect overall inflation figures.
This graph shows annual inflation based on one-month periods at each supermarket:
Remember, inflation is a measure of how quickly prices are rising or falling and not of the absolute price. The supermarkets with the highest inflation could also be the cheapest.
- Find out more: which is the cheapest supermarket this month?
Which food types have the highest inflation?
Fish prices rose fastest of all 20 categories in our research, followed by energy drinks. Butters and spreads, cheese and chocolate had the lowest inflation; they were either the same price or cheaper this September than in September last year, but all other categories were more expensive than in September last year, on average.
| Type of food or drink | Annual inflation for the month of September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Fish | 11.9% |
| Energy drinks | 5.3% |
| Fizzy drinks | 3.8% |
| Water | 3.8% |
| Vegetables | 2.9% |
| Biscuits | 2.8% |
| Cakes and cookies | 2.7% |
| Fresh fruit | 2.7% |
| Crisps | 2.5% |
| Yogurts | 2.4% |
| Savoury pies, pastries and quiches | 2.4% |
| Cereals | 2.2% |
| Milk | 2.2% |
| Chilled ready meals | 2.1% |
| Juice drinks and smoothies | 1.9% |
| Bakery | 1.4% |
| Meat | 0.9% |
| Chocolate | 0.0% |
| Cheese | -0.4% |
| Butters and spreads | -1.2% |
Source: Which? Supermarket Inflation Tracker.
This graph shows annual inflation based on one-month periods for five of the categories that originally had the highest inflation:
Are branded or own-label groceries worse for inflation?
Currently, premium own-label food and drink has the highest rate of inflation among ranges, with prices up 2.9% year on year in September.
| Range of groceries | Annual inflation for the month of September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Own-label premium | 2.9% |
| Own-label standard | 2.8% |
| Branded | 2.0% |
| Own-label budget | 1.0% |
Source: Which? supermarket Inflation Tracker.
Here are the results displayed visually, over a longer period of time:
Why are food prices rising?
Food prices have been rising for a variety of reasons.
Prices for feed, fertiliser and fuel – which are all needed to produce food and drink – rose dramatically due to the war in Ukraine.
This was coupled with the knock-on effects of disruption during the pandemic, as well as spiralling energy and labour costs. Poor harvests in Europe and north and west Africa may also have had an effect. For example, cocoa and sugar production has been hit by poor weather, disease and a decline in the number of farmers.
More recently, some people have also blamed rises in employers' National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage.
Some experts have also warned the US-Israeli war with Iran could drive up food production costs again.
Why should you trust Which? research?
We’re not influenced by third parties. We work entirely on behalf of you, the consumer, nobody else. See our statement of editorial independence.