Grocery Prices Rise 7% Across Major Australian Supermarket Chains, Survey Finds

Grocery prices have risen across all four of Australia's major supermarket chains, according to new analysis from consumer advocacy group Choice, with the average cost of a basket of essential items increasing by 7% between March and June.

Choice found that a basket of items purchased at Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi now costs an average of $43.62, up from the previous quarter. The figures come from the organization's 10th quarterly government-funded survey of supermarket prices, which tracks the cost of everyday grocery staples across the country's largest retail chains.

For the latest survey, researchers filled a basket with eight common grocery items and checked prices at 104 different stores in June, allowing for comparisons both between retailers and across regions. The methodology is designed to give shoppers and policymakers a consistent, ongoing picture of how supermarket pricing is trending over time.

The increase adds to ongoing public and political attention on the cost of living in Australia, where grocery prices have been a persistent point of scrutiny for consumers, regulators and lawmakers. Choice's quarterly surveys have become a regular reference point in that debate, offering a standardized snapshot of price movements that individual shopper experiences can be difficult to quantify on their own.

Choice did not attribute the increase to a single cause in the portion of its findings reported so far, and it remains to be seen whether the upward trend continues in future quarterly surveys. The group has indicated it will continue monitoring prices at the same stores and with the same basket of goods to track changes over subsequent quarters.