Christmas dinner to cost slightly less this year in rare boost for households

Christmas dinner will cost a few pence less than last year in some rare good news for consumers as they prepare for festive celebrations, figures show.

A turkey and all the trimmings for four will cost an average £32.46 this year, slightly down on last year’s £32.57 – which was up 6.5% on the year before, according to market research firm Worldpanel by Numerator, formerly Kantar.

The fall comes as overall grocery price inflation held steady at 4.7% over the month to November 30, helped by retailers ramping up promotions in the competition for Christmas shoppers.

Some 31.2% of spending was on promoted items, up from 30% this time last year, Worldpanel’s data shows.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: “Retailers are pulling out all the stops to win shoppers over as they gear up for one of the most important trading periods of the year.

“One in five households tell us that they’ve been struggling financially and that’s been largely consistent over the past two years.

“With the cost of living still biting for many this Christmas, just under one third of all spending is on promotion as supermarkets find ways to shield shoppers from the impact of price rises.”

He added: “Retailers are savvy to the fact that at Christmas especially – even when times are tough – consumers still find the space in their wallet to spend on small treats.

“In fact, we’ve seen that right through the cos-of-living crisis as people have found new, more affordable ways to indulge in what we call the ‘pick-me-up pound’.

“The rise and rise of premium own-label lines bears this out with one in every £20 now spent on these treat-type products.”

While chocolate prices are up 18.4% on this time last year, it has not stopped five million households putting a confectionery advent calendar in their basket in November.

Similarly, just over one in 10 shoppers bought a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine over the last month.

Online grocer Ocado reached a new record market share of 2.2% with sales increasing by 15.8% over the quarter.

However, bricks and mortar still dominates the grocery sector and, with Christmas falling on a Thursday this year, Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd are expected to be the busiest supermarket shopping days of the year.

Lidl made the biggest market share gain, winning an additional 0.5 percentage points compared with last year to reach 8.1%.

Sales at Sainsbury’s rose by 5.1%, bringing the retailer’s market share to 16%, and Tesco achieved sales growth of 4.7% as it attracted 321,000 more shoppers over the 12 weeks compared with last year to holds 28.3% of the market.

Spending through the tills at Aldi increased by 4.1% and its share remains at 10.5%, while Waitrose and Iceland both grew ahead of the market at 4%, maintaining shares of 4.4% and 2.3% respectively.

Sales at Asda now account for 11.5% of the market, down 4.3% on last year, while Co-op’s share stands at 5.3%, down 1.4% on last November.

Beyond the grocers, sales of take-home groceries at M&S were 8.9% higher over the 12 weeks compared with the same period in 2024.