December sees cheapest grocery prices in more than a year

Grocery prices in December were the cheapest in more than a year as supermarkets competed for shoppers with savings during the Christmas period, figures show.

The cost of a basket of 35 popular products cost £85.91 last month, a full 1% less than the previous month, according to comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk.

%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-supermarkets%The bill is 5% or £4.33 less than last Christmas, representing an annual family saving of £225 on the weekly shop.

The products that dropped the most from November to December were mushrooms, down 18%, onions, down 7%, and pasta, down 5%.

However the price of yoghurt increased by 4%, while sausages and toilet paper were both 3% more expensive than in November.

Supermarkets have been locked in a fierce price war for months, with a new order seeing discounters Aldi and Lidl now controlling 10% of British grocery sales - double their share of three years ago.

MySupermarket managing director Kim Ludlow said: "It is great to see the cost of grocery staples come down further in price and shoppers across the UK will be delighted that they can make real savings this January.

"The fall is part of a wider trend that we have observed here at mySupermarket, and is partly due to the intense competition between supermarkets with discounters such as Aldi and Lidl increasing their market share over recent months.

''The average saving made by a MySupermarket shopper is 30%, so there are definitely more savings to be had if people are willing to compare prices before they complete their shop.''