Irish shoppers may finally see a ‘decline’ in food prices in 2024

People across Ireland may finally breathe a sigh of relief over the cost of their weekly food shop this year.

Several household food staples are due to reduce in price across the next 12 months, according to an Irish economist. This comes as the rate of inflation is expected to drop to 3.2% this year and will continue to fall further to 2.3% in 2025. The past few years have seen families across Ireland struggling to make ends meet as prices surged in many areas. Today, Economist Austin Hughes told Newstalk: “Food prices are still rising but not as fast as they have been over the last couple of years. “There’s been some encouraging announcements from some of the retailers in recent days that suggest that we’re going to see a further slow down in food price inflation and some declines in some food price items.” [caption id="attachment_117877" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Image via Getty [/caption] As well as a reduction in food costs, the price of energy is due to come down as well – but it is currently still higher than before the invasion of Ukraine. Mr. hughes went on to say: “Energy prices fell by 2.6% this December [but] they fell by 6.5% a year ago. “That means that prices were falling faster a year ago and that means that you have what’s called a base effect that picks up the results in higher inflation.” Echoing this sentiment for 2024, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said on Thursday: “It is certainly my view, that 2024 will represent progress in reducing that burden of cost of living that many have faced over the last years.” Header image via Getty  This article originally appeared on herfamily.ie  READ NEXT:  - Here is a list of every Bank Holiday for Ireland in 2024 - The 5 NCT centres in Ireland with the highest failure rates - Commuters urged to beware of new Leap Card scam