Not 100, not 200, not 500 euros. Households can save up to 1,310 euros per year, on average, depending on the establishment they choose to fill their shopping cart, according to the latest macro study on supermarkets prepared by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) and published this Friday. There are almost 200 euros more savings compared to last year's edition, which reflects greater competition between large chains. In the city of Madrid, which concentrates very aggressive flagships in prices and at the same time exclusive chains, the difference reaches 4,381 euros, the highest in the country.
The Andalusian Dani is once again the cheapest chain in Spain, followed by Family Cash and the Castilian-Leonese Tifer. Alcampo, in fourth place, is the most economical among those with a national presence. What's more: the most affordable establishment in the country is once again the hypermarket that the French flagship has in the Bonaire shopping center, in Aldaia (Valencia). Sánchez-Romero also repeats, although at the other end of the classification: it is the most expensive supermarket on the entire map. At a notable distance, but still with prices about 30% more expensive than those offered by Dani, are Supercor, Hipercor and El Corte Inglés.
The OCU has been preparing its study on supermarkets for decades, based on the analysis of hundreds of products in dozens of stores in different locations. For the edition published this Friday, it has visited 690 establishments between April and May in 38 cities - and more than a hundred locations, in addition to online stores - and has compared more than 100,000 prices from 65 chains to build its typical basket: a list with 244 hygiene, drugstore and food items, both from the distributor and from the brand, which reflect the consumption of an average household, according to data from the Family Budget Survey of the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In addition to the standard basket, the organization designs three sub-baskets: the brand basket, the fresh basket and the economic basket, the latter made up of the 90 cheapest basic products sold by each of the supermarkets analyzed. Each chain and establishment is then assigned an index. Thus, Dani is unbeatable both in the OCU standard basket and in the fresh basket: in both cases, it achieves an index of 100. The regional Andalusian chain Súper Carmela, on the other hand, offers the lowest prices in the brand basket, in which Dani achieves a score of 109 —that is, it is 9% more expensive than the cheapest chain. Regarding the economic basket, the leader is Alcampo.
The report reflects a moderate price increase for the entire sample, of 1.8%, lower than the 2.5% in 2025 and the formidable 15.2% in 2022, when inflation, which had already been picking up due to the impact of the pandemic, reached unprecedented heights in decades after the invasion of Ukraine. However, there are products that have registered increases above average: fresh products, for the second consecutive year, are the ones that have increased the most, with an increase of 4.7%, which in the case of fish reaches 8.6%. Among the items in this basket, the increases in tomatoes (33.2%) and lemons (25.2%) stand out, in addition to ration rooster (19.4%).
If the analysis is done by basket, the typical basket has become more expensive by 1% on average, compared to the 3.6% that inflation has increased; the economy has fallen by 1.1%. Fresh and branded, on the other hand, have increased by 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively. The OCU clarifies that its study does not include the impact of the war in Iran, which has not yet been transferred to the shopping cart, but that it believes that it will end up reaching the shelves if the crisis becomes entrenched. He also emphasizes that the sharp price increases have left their mark: according to his calculations, the real purchasing power of households remains below what they had in 2008.
This year supermarkets have once again stepped on the accelerator of discounts. After a 2025 in which they failed to lower prices, 8 of the 28 largest chains offer the cheapest standard basket this year than a year ago, with Carrefour Market leading the way. Lidl, Mercadona (in economical products) and Aldi (in fresh products), direct competitors, have also lowered prices, as have E. Leclerc, Supeco, Famila and Consum. BM, Ahorramás and Gadis are, on the contrary, the chains where the standard basket has become more expensive. The most aggressive discounts have been recorded in the economic basket, with drops of more than 12% in the case of Carrefour Market.
If you look for the cheapest chain in each of the locations analyzed for the study, the highest step on the podium is occupied by Lidl. The German firm has dethroned the French company Alcampo by becoming the cheapest alternative in 60 locations, compared to 18 last year. Mercadona and Supeco have also improved their positioning.
