Average grocery bill in Australia Aussie households spend on average $152 per week on groceries, according to Canstar Blue's latest survey of supermarket shoppers. This equates to about $608 a month or $7,296 a year.
Lam said prices have been rising since the start of the pandemic as pressures from disruptions in supply chains and high freight costs built up. The rise in energy and fuel — largely exacerbated by the war in Ukraine — also contributed to the cost of transporting food, he said.
Australia's monthly food price inflation rose to 5.9% in the July quarter of 2022. An average Australian spends $608 a month on groceries. Aussies spend the most on buying fresh fruits and vegetables. The average grocery bill for a family of 4 is around $203 per week.
But if you look at the Economist Food Security Index, Australians spend a modest 10.2 per cent of their total household expenditure on food. This is a lot less than the world average of 34.5 per cent.
Aussies are being warned the cost of groceries is likely to spike next year with a major supply shortage set to hit the country.
The cost of food will stay high next year, experts say – but Aussie favourites such as coffee are expected to drop in price. A report by agricultural bank Rabobank said shoppers as well as food producers face a "challenging" year, after the cost of living shot up during 2022.
USDA says growth in food prices will slow
As a result, the USDA predicts that food prices will rise between 3% and 4% in 2023. If the prediction is correct, it is a much slower growth than we've seen this year, but it still means the cost of groceries will go up.
So why is the cost-of-living in Australia so high? One of the major reasons is inflation. A measure for household inflation, the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, increased by 2.1% in the first quarter of this year and 5.1% annually, according to data compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Gold Coast is one of the cheapest places to live in Australia (89th globally). It is known for its high-standard education and academia and its budget-friendly living.
If you're a single adult, depending on your age and sex (the USDA estimates are higher for men and lower for both women and men 71 and older), look to spend between $229 and $419 each month on groceries. For a two-adult household, the figure above will double: $458 to $838.
Monthly Grocery Budget
The average cost of food per month for one person ranges from $150 to $300, depending on age. However, these national averages vary based on where you live and the quality of your food purchases.
Which country is the cheapest? Let's do a quick comparison on global grocery prices: In the US, food is 24.85% cheaper.
Silks' braised abalone with webbing from duck's feet: $1380 per kilogram To spend as much money on food as fast as you can, head to Crown's high-end Cantonese restaurant Silks and order a portion of the braised abalone with webbing from duck's feet.
Australia is experiencing record levels of inflation as a result of knock-on effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and strong consumer demand.
Food, fuel, power, water, rent, mortgages – it has become a universally known fact that the cost of essentials have been rising across the board. No one is quite sure how long the cost of living crisis will last or how bad it will get but the Australian government has been warning Australians of tough times ahead.
According to Numbeo, Australia ranks 14th for highest cost of living in the world. This places this warm nation higher on the list than the United States, United Kingdom and even Canada (at least when you exclude rent costs). If you do include rent costs, Australia drops down slightly to 15th.
Sydney Is Still Australia's Most Expensive Place To Live, but Melbourne and Brisbane Are Not Far Behind. Singapore and New York have tied for the title of world's most expensive city in this year's Worldwide Cost of Living report.
Caldwell estimates that the inflation rate will average around 1.5% between 2023 and 2025. “While consensus has largely given up on the 'transitory' story for inflation, we still think most of the sources of today's high inflation will abate, and even unwind in impact, over the next few years,” Caldwell says.
Executives at large food manufacturers and analysts expect inflation to hover around this level for the rest of 2022. Next year, the rate of food inflation is expected to moderate — but that doesn't mean prices are going to drop. Once prices hit a certain level, they tend to stay there or go up, but rarely down.