Australia: Aldi remains the cheapest place to shop for groceries, according to Choice report
- DRC Discount Retail Consulting GmbH
- Jun 25
- 4 min read
Discount Retail Chain Aldi Australia was named the cheapest when it came to a sample basket of groceries, followed by Woolworths, Coles and IGA. Consumer advocacy group Choice has released the results of its quarterly, government-funded report on supermarket prices across Australia. The group says despite recent cuts to interest rates that have provided some relief to mortgage holders, the cost of living continues to trouble many Australians.
Here is how the supermarkets compare and how you can make sure you are getting the best value at the check-out.
The cheapest supermarket
Without including specials, the average full basket of 14 items cost:
$55.35 at Aldi
$58.92 at Woolworths
$59.22 at Coles
$69.74 at IGA
Looking at the individual items on the list (without specials), Coles had the best deal on apples, Woolworths had the cheapest chicken breasts and pumpkin, and at IGA you paid less for carrots and garlic than at the other three supermarkets.
Aldi had the best price on everything else.
Do prices vary by location?
The average prices across each state and territory were:
ACT:
Aldi: $53.57
Woolworths: $58.25
Coles: $58.45
IGA: $67.46
NSW:
Aldi: $53.57
Woolworths: $58.15
Coles: $59.01
IGA: $62.52
Northern Territory:
Woolworths: $58.40
Coles: $56.98
IGA: $76.18
Queensland:
Aldi: $54.52
Woolworths: $58.65
Coles: $55.40
IGA: $69.34
South Australia:
Aldi: $54.82
Woolworths: $58.48
Coles: $56.85
IGA: $66.81
Tasmania:
Woolworths: $59.85
Coles: $57.45
IGA: $70.10
Victoria:
Aldi: $54.07
Woolworths: $59.25
Coles: $57.45
IGA: $64.21
Western Australia:
Aldi: $55.74
Woolworths: $59.78
Coles: $59.65
IGA: $71.31
Aldi is not available in all states and territories.
What was in the basket?
Choice has slightly tweaked the contents of the basket after feedback from consumers.
They asked for more visibility and fresh foods to be included. Winter items such as hot chocolate, ingredients for pumpkin soup and porridge were also included.
The products purchased at each supermarket were:
A bulk pack of chicken breasts
Carrots
Royal Gala apples
Cavendish bananas
Strawberries
Butternut pumpkin
Garlic
Brown onions
Sanitarium Weet-bix
Full-cream milk
Drinking chocolate
Vegetable stock
Sour cream
Quick oat sachets
The methodology
Last year's pricing comparison found that Aldi was 25 per cent cheaper than Coles and Woolworths but this one does not appear to suggest similar. According to this year's report, Woolworths appears 6.4 per cent more expensive than Aldi and Coles 6.9 per cent.
Choice CEO Ashley de Silva said the methodology had not changed but the selected items had. "Our base basket of items in Year 2 is different to our base basket of items in Year 1," she said. "Our new emphasis on fresh foods, something we've been asked to focus on by our audience, is a big reason why we've seen the percentage differences between our basket totals change, as fresh and seasonal items tend to be more competitively priced."
Choice is in its second year of comparing supermarket baskets and it says this quarter, it has changed how it does it.
The peak body says it considered factors such as ingredient lists, country of origin and packaging similarities to ensure fair comparisons were made.
"When items were unavailable, we looked for the closest alternative just as you would when shopping for your family," the report wrote.
"We've also reduced the size of our base basket this year to allow us to add more spotlight items each quarter, so that we can compare a wider variety of products across the year.
"We'll be able to track changes to the base basket as prices fluctuate across the year, and also include a wider variety of new items each quarter."
Choice said it surveyed 104 supermarkets, 27 Woolworths, 27 Coles, 23 Aldi and 27 IGA stores, in 27 locations across Australia in March 2025. Supermarket locations were chosen to give good coverage of socio-economic status based on ABS Indexes and geographic spread across the country.
Supermarkets were surveyed in clusters so that each store had local competition, and it calculated the average price of the basket of goods, both with and without specials.
"A price was deemed to be a special when we had evidence of a temporary price reduction.
"There were 14 grocery items in each basket (10 fresh and 4 packaged items)."
How have supermarkets responded?
In a statement provided to the ABC, a spokesperson for Coles said the Choice basket "doesn't capture our full winter offer for customers". "This month, we lowered the price of more than 300 products for 12 weeks to help provide relief to households this winter, which, combined with other current deals means more than a thousand items at Coles are currently reduced in price.
"We appreciate the increased transparency in Chioce's recent quarterly report on grocery prices across supermarkets, which for the first time discloses the list of items from each basket." A spokesperson for Woolworths told the ABC it had also launched a lower winter price program, "which has reduced prices on hundreds of winter essentials by an average of 18 per cent for the next three months".
"Products on Lower Winter Price include pantry staples, frozen foods, personal care, and baby care, and are designed to give customers certainty on the key products they'll be buying this season to help their budgets go further.
"Year-on-year prices in our Australian Food business have now declined for five consecutive quarters and we remain committed to delivering value for our customers every time they shop with us."
How can I save money on groceries?
It can be hard to compare prices of different-sized products from different brands, but unit pricing lets you compare prices based on the price per unit e.g. 100 grams or 1 litre.
All supermarkets are required by law to include this information in labelling, both online and instore.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) gives some good examples of this:
Beef: price per kilogram
Laundry detergent: price per litre
Avocados: price per avocado
Switching between stores and shopping at different supermarkets to take advantage of specials can deliver significant savings. Starting at Aldi is the best way to save at the check-out, according to Choice. Swap expensive cuts of meat for cheaper alternatives, look at frozen fruit and veg, particularly if shopping for produce out of season, and give the ugly fruit and vegetables a go. Nutrition academics say frozen produce can be just as healthy as fresh fruit and veggies, sometimes even healthier.
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