British supermarkets have upped the prices of nearly 10,000 products in the weekly directly after Christmas, new analysis has revealed.
Price rises after the festive period are not “uncommon” as supermarket chains have usually spent several weeks trying to keep prices steady in the lead-up to Christmas.
However, this year’s increase, noted by the retail data firm Assosia for The Grocer, was seen as being “unusually“ large.
Altogether, around 9,763 products, from 156,555 grocery-based products, were subject to price rises across the UK’s major grocery chains between Boxing Day and January 6.
This was slightly higher than the 9,103 product price rises recorded in January 2022.
The Grocer Magazine reported that normally shoppers could expect to see only about 5,000 price increases at this time of year.
According to the report, Asda lead the way with price rises having upped the price of around 2,470 products which is around 11% of its entire range.
However, Asda had lowered the prices of around 734 products meaning overall 1,736 items are now more expensive than before.
Morrisons took second place having upped the prices of £1,585 of its products and Sainsbury's took third place with a price increase of around 1,329 products.
Although, both supermarkets did reduce the price of a few hundred products taking their increase figure to 1,032 and 1,007 respectively or 8% and 5% of their entire range.
According to this data, Tesco had upped the least with just 741 products, or 3% of its range seeing a price increase.
The UK's favourite discount supermarket Aldi, which was named the UK's cheapest supermarket by Which? in 2022, increased prices on 6% of its range, while Lidl, who received second place, did so on 7% of products.
Amongst the categories, drinks saw the biggest price rises with 11% of the range seeing a rise.
According to the Grocer, this figure was higher among certain alcoholic drinks, 23% of beer and cider, 15% for spirits, and 7% for wine.
Cupboard essentials and frozen food saw an overall increase of 7%, whilst the cost of fresh food saw a 5% rise.
The products with the lowest amount of increases were health and beauty where only 3% of its range saw a rise and baby, which had only 4% of its range upped.
In response to the findings, Asda said in a statement that it is “consistently named the lowest-priced traditional supermarket in independent price comparison surveys carried out by Which? and The Grocer”.
It added: "There are a number of reasons why grocery prices vary over time and during this period we also reduced prices on thousands of products.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “With household budgets under increasing pressure we are absolutely committed to helping our customers, by keeping a laser focus on the cost of the weekly shop. We are therefore pleased to be recognised as the retailer doing the most to keep prices down right now.
“So whether it’s price matching Aldi on the basics, locking the price of more than a thousand household staples until Easter 2023, or offering exclusive deals and rewards through thousands of Clubcard Prices – we’re more committed than ever to providing our customers with great value.”
Morrisons said it was "working hard to keep prices down" whilst "maintaining high standards" in their stores.
It added: "Since December we have invested over £16 million to cut the prices on over 50% of our entry-level products to help customers' money go further, particularly during the January squeeze."
The Mirror has contacted Sainsbury's, Aldi and Lidl for comment.
