According to the latest OCU report, food expenses occupy an increasingly large place in the economy of Spaniards. This is shown by the latest data collected in the Household Budget Survey published in 2023 by the National Statistics Institute (INE): supermarket purchases take 16.35% of the household budget.
Rising prices in supermarkets have a lot to do with this: in 2024 they have already increased the cost of their products by 2.9% on average. Fortunately, the OCU reveals that some of them offer a cheaper shopping basket than the rest.
Recommendations for saving on shopping
The OCU states that, in big cities like Madrid, we can save up to 27% (more than 1,00o euros) on annual food expenses if we choose one of the cheapest supermarkets in the capital instead of going to the most expensive ones. This does not happen in smaller cities such as Soria or Jaén, where prices tend to be more homogeneous.
Therefore, although it may seem obvious, savers living in the capital should be aware of which grocery stores have raised their prices the least. Two of the seven cheapest supermarket chains in Spain are in the Community of Madrid: Alcampo and Family Cash.
It is also important to know which supermarkets are making their products more expensive. This year, El Corte Inglés ( +9.7%) and Hipercor (+8.2%) top the list of those that have increased their prices the most. Others such as Lidl, Aldi and Carrefour Express have lowered prices slightly (less than 1%), especially for their own-brand products.