Northern Ireland grocery sales reach £4.3 billion
Some £4.3 billion passed through Northern Ireland’s grocers’ tills in 2024, an increase of 1.8% compared to 2023.
The latest figures from analysts, Kantar represent the year to 29th December 2024.
Grocery inflation in Northern Ireland now stands at 2.76%, down from 3.5% last month.
Shoppers made more trips to stores with larger baskets, resulting in an additional £75.8 million being spent on groceries throughout the year.
The data from Kantar also reveals that across 2024, Northern Irish shoppers spent an additional £60 million on their favourite brands – an increase of 2.6% year-on-year, boosting brand value share to 54.9%. Meanwhile, own-label share reached 43.2% as shoppers spent an additional £22 million on these products.
Business Development Director at Kantar, Emer Healy said promotional activity remained strong, accounting for over 22.6% of value sales, with shoppers spending almost £1 billion on promotional deals.
“We saw a combined £320 million spent on wine, beer and cider alone,” added Emer Healy.
“However, low and non-alcoholic drinks experienced the strongest growth compared to last year, increasing by 13.4%. Shoppers in Northern Ireland also spent a total of £265 million on chocolate and biscuits this year.
“Tesco continues to lead in market share performance, holding 36.1% of the market, up 5.2% compared to 2023. This growth was driven by an increase in the number of trips to stores, contributing an additional £92 million to its performance.
“Sainsbury’s holds a 16.7% market share, with sales up 2.2% year-on-year. Sainsbury’s welcomed an influx of new shoppers to its stores, which contributed an additional £25.7 million to its overall performance.
“Asda holds 16.4% of the market, up 4.5% over this period, with increases in volume per trip and new shoppers contributing a combined additional £32.5 million to its performance. Lidl holds a 9.1% market share, up 1.9% year-on-year, with more frequent trips boosting overall performance by £6.5 million.”
