An investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) into the grocery retailer sector has found there is no evidence indicating any issues regarding competition among retailers in terms of food prices.
In its report the CCPC says that although inflation analysis shows “significant price increases since 2021 that have a real impact on consumers” the available data on supermarket profits “does not indicate that margins are notably high when compared to international comparators”.
Official figures show Irish consumers experienced a 27% increase in grocery prices between 2021 and June of this year.
The CCPC says that while this rise is significant, it remains below the EU average increase of 35% over the same period, adding that only four other EU member states have experienced smaller price increases since 2021.
However, the agency’s 2025 high-level analysis of the grocery retail sector notes that “one key driver of recent food price rises is the increase of some agricultural product prices, which have been higher in Ireland than the European average”.
The Commission says that “while grocery prices have increased significantly since 2021, they have done so at a slower pace than some of the key input costs, such as agricultural prices.
“This suggests that competition in the grocery market has helped limit the impact of increased agricultural prices on Irish consumers,” the report says.
For its probe of grocery retailers the CCPC analysed market concentration including new entrants and expansion, national and international trends in grocery prices, as well as profit margins of major grocery retailers.
It says that recent profit figures from grocery retailers “continue to be in line with the margin band estimated by the CCPC in 2023”, which was between 1% and 4%.
Tesco Ireland’s operating profit margin for the year to Feb 2024 was 3.7% (down from 4% in the previous year), Musgrave’s (which owns SuperValu and Centra) profit margin in 2023 was 2.4%, down from 2.5% the previous year.
Aldi’s profit margin in 2023 was 0.8%, down from 0.9% in 2022.
Dunnes and Lidl do not publish accounts for their Irish operations, however, Lidl’s UK accounts (which combine UK and Irish activities) for 2023/2024 show a profit margin of 2.1%.
The CCPC says the profit margins for Irish supermarkets “align closely with those observed in the UK and other parts of Europe”.
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The consumer watchdog also points out that “increased competition in the market over the last 20 years has brought sizeable benefits for consumers” and that “food price increases in Ireland have been well below the European average, and this coincides with increasing competition in the Irish market”.
The CCPC previously carried out a similar analysis of the retail grocery sector in 2023, which had similar findings, but amid sustained food inflation the Government asked the Commission to re-assess the sector.
While the CCPC says it has not seen evidence to “justify an in-depth study of the grocery retail sector” it says it “remains a key market for the CCPC, which we will continue to review”.
The watchdog makes no recommendations in its report.
‘People will be very confused about this’
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said anyone reading the CCPC findings “will be scratching their head”.
“Everyone who is going to the supermarkets shelves, paying prices at the tills, they know exactly how expensive everything is and how much pressure it is putting on their household budgets.
“So, I think people will be very confused about this,” she said.
Deputy Whitmore said that “a number” of the large supermarkets do not publish their profits for the Irish market and without that information, and the inability of the CCPC to “rigorously analyse” this, there is a “gap” in its report.
She said the Government should force those companies to publish their profits “so that we can get full transparency”.
Deputy Whitmore pointed to the finding by the CCPC of a “19% increase in agricultural products” compared with “an average of 2.6% across Europe”.
“I think that is a very large discrepancy and I think we need to examine and analyse that,” she said.
