These are the biggest price changes in the shopping basket in Spain, according to leading consumer group

Fruit and vegetables are the food group that has become the most expensive in Spanish supermarkets, according to the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU).

It comes as inflation fell to 1.5% in September, the lowest in three years. Although the figure is much lower than the increases of a few months ago, this moderation does not end up reaching consumers’ pockets. The OCU pointed out just a “minimal easing in the prices of our shopping basket”, with a fall – according to their calculations – of 0.58%. The percentage is the result of an internal analysis based on its monthly monitoring of the prices of 100 products in eight main Spanish supermarkets.

The OCU Observatory, launched in June this year, records the prices of 100 staple food products and tracks the evolution of their price increases or decreases on a monthly basis. The study includes large chains such as Alcampo, Carrefour, Día, Mas, Ahorramas, Lidl, Mercadona and El Corte Inglés. The OCU Observatory tracks the prices of fresh food, private label and manufacturer’s products as well as some of the most common drugstore and hygiene items.

According to its findings, the cost of the shopping basket in September was 308.47 euros, a decrease compared to August, when 310.26 euros was paid for the same products. A recent OECD report pointed out that between 2019 and 2024, the shopping basket in Spain has been revalued by 14% more than wages, the third largest gap among the countries that make up the organisation.

Fruit and vegetables, the most notable increase

By food groups, fruit and vegetables lead the increases with a 6.59% rise in prices. Drinks also rose, albeit slightly. Other foods such as meat, fish and packaged food recorded a downward trend, with a more marked fall in dairy products (-3.03%).

The OCU pointed out that those products shown in the image above are the ones that have experienced the highest price increases since July. In the basket as a whole, salads, onions, oranges and apples are among the foods that have risen the most. All food products that have risen the most belong to the fruit and vegetable food group, according to the OCU’s findings.

Meanwhile, the food group that has experienced the biggest drop in prices in the past month is dairy with the price of fresh cheese dropping by 9.76% and margarine by 6.40%. Cocoa derivatives, such as milk chocolate and ColaCao, are also beginning to moderate.