Cost of living: groceries in Australia
How much grocery prices have risen in Australia, what is driving the increases, and practical steps to manage your food budget in 2026.
Australians are spending significantly more on groceries than they did five years ago. Food prices have risen 24% since 2019, far outpacing wage growth of 15% and squeezing household budgets across the country. Pinch helps you track prices in real time and find savings at major retailers, so you can understand exactly where your money goes and take control of your food spending.
How much have grocery prices risen?
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, food costs have surged dramatically over the past six years. The Consumer Price Index for groceries climbed 24% from 2019 to 2025. While this headline figure masks important variation across product categories, the impact on household budgets is very real.
Some categories have outpaced the average:
| Product | Price increase (2019-2025) |
|---|---|
| Bread | 41% |
| Beef | 13.5% |
| Eggs | 11.9% |
| Coffee | 11.5% |
For context, wage growth in the same period was roughly 15%. This means that for many households, their purchasing power for food has declined in real terms. The gap has widened since 2022, when inflation spiked and wage growth couldn't keep pace.
What's driving the increases?
Several long-term structural factors underpin food price growth:
Supply chain and environmental pressure
Australian agriculture faces persistent challenges. Droughts affect crop yields and livestock production. International supply chain disruptions continue to ripple through import-dependent categories like oils, grains, and specialty items. Fertiliser costs remain elevated globally, pushing up input costs for local farmers.
Duopoly control
Two supermarket chains control 67% of the Australian grocery market (38% and 29% respectively). This concentration limits competition and can enable pricing strategies that might be impossible in more fragmented markets. The ACCC Supermarket Inquiry, concluded in 2024, found evidence of pricing practices "that may have resulted in higher prices for consumers." These findings lend credence to long-standing public concern about competitive intensity in grocery retail.
Inflation and cost pressures
Energy costs, transport, labour, and packaging all feed into food prices. While headline inflation has moderated from 2022 peaks, food price pressures remain stickier than many other consumer categories. Price reductions are rare; once a price rises, it tends to stay elevated.
The impact on different households
Food price inflation does not affect all Australians equally. Lower-income households spend a larger proportion of their budget on groceries, so price rises have an outsized impact. Regional and remote areas pay 26-50% more for groceries than metropolitan centres, due to transport costs and reduced retail competition.
The scale of food insecurity is sobering. Foodbank reported in 2025 that more than 2 million Australians experience food insecurity, meaning they cannot consistently afford nutritious food. This has become one of the most visible social costs of sustained grocery price inflation.
What can you do about it?
Track prices and compare retailers
You cannot save money on groceries if you don't know what prices are. Different retailers offer different deals on different items, and these change weekly. Using a price tracking app lets you see exactly which retailer is cheapest for your shopping list, without visiting multiple stores or comparing flyers manually.
Buy seasonal and local where possible
Produce that is in season typically costs less and is fresher. Local or domestic products often have lower transport costs built in. Shopping at farmers markets or fruit and veg wholesalers can also reduce costs, though not everyone has convenient access.
Plan meals around sales
Rather than deciding what to cook and then buying ingredients, consider which proteins and fresh items are on sale that week, and plan meals around them. This requires a bit more flexibility but can yield significant savings.
Reduce waste
Spoilage is a hidden cost. Planning meals, storing produce correctly, and using up leftovers reduces the amount you throw away and stretches your budget further.
Shift to home brands
Supermarket home brand products are often comparable in quality to branded alternatives and cost significantly less. Testing a few categories can reveal painless savings without feeling like deprivation.
What's changing in 2026?
On 1 July 2026, Australia's price gouging ban takes effect. This measure, announced in response to the ACCC inquiry findings, makes it illegal for large retailers to charge excessive prices during supply disruptions. The maximum penalty is 10% of annual turnover, a substantial deterrent. It is too early to say what enforcement will look like or how much impact the ban will have, but it represents an explicit government acknowledgment that pricing conduct is a legitimate policy concern.
In the meantime, the most practical tool available to individual consumers remains comparison shopping. By tracking prices across retailers and understanding where the best deals are, households can recover some purchasing power and protect themselves from paying more than necessary.
Track prices and take control
Pinch shows you real-time prices across major Australian retailers, so you can see exactly where to shop and what you will pay before you go. No guessing, no wasted trips, no overspending.
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