The cost of a healthy food basket in Ireland

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• 30 September 2025

Families on low-income need to spend up to one third of weekly income to afford a healthy food basket. 

Latest Safefood food basket research highlights challenges facing families on low-income to shop for a healthy balanced diet.

30 September 2025: The latest food basket report from Safefood has revealed how families on low-income need to spend up to one third (33%) of their weekly income to afford a healthy food basket that meets nutritional needs. For those households with a teenager at home, their costs were more than 20% higher than those of a household with children of pre-school and primary school age. 

The Safefood research found that households reliant on social welfare spend a larger percentage of their take home income on food compared to households with an employed adult. The average family of two parents on state benefits and two children, where the older child was in secondary school had a total weekly food basket cost of €198 or 33% of their take home income. For a one-parent household relying on state benefits with two children of pre-school and primary school age, their weekly basket cost €122 or 28% of their take home income. This was 12% higher than if the adult was employed earning the national minimum wage. Among pensioners, the total weekly healthy food basket cost ranged from €72 for a single pensioner to €90 for a couple. According to the most recent Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, food price inflation in Ireland rose to a 20-month high of 5 per cent in August this year.

Many families are being forced to choose cheaper and often nutritionally poor food items to keep food spending within their means and this is a really worrying trend.

- Aileen McGloin, Director of Nutrition, Safefood

Typically, households on a low-income tend to eat less well, which can contribute to higher levels of excess weight and corresponding health complications like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.  

Dr Aileen McGloin, Director of Nutrition with Safefood said: “For households with children food shopping is often the only flexible part of their spend. Many families are being forced to choose cheaper and often nutritionally poor food items to keep food spending within their means and this is a really worrying trend. What this research consistently shows is the challenge for low-income households of trying to balance the cost of a heathy food basket against the cost of meeting other needs and expenses.” 

The contents of the food baskets in the Safefood survey were based on menus put together by the households themselves. People selected an acceptable food basket in terms of taste and menu choices, while also meeting the social needs of a household, for example hosting visitors or special occasions like birthdays. The food baskets were reviewed by nutritionists to ensure they met the nutritional guidelines and then price-checked accordingly. 

Download the report: What is the cost of a healthy food basket in Ireland in 2024?

Ends 

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:  

WHPR: Deirbhile Brennan 
Email: [email protected] 
Mobile: 086 457 6093 

Or 
  
Safefood 

Dermot Moriarty /Hayley Linehan
Mob: +353 (0) 86 381 1034 (Dermot) +353 (0) 87 406 9110 (Hayley) 
Email: [email protected]  

References 

¹ “What is the cost of a healthy food basket in Ireland in 2024?” Safefood 2025 

² CSO Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices August 2025 

Editor’s notes

The Safefood research looked at six household types for the study which were as follows:  

• Two parent & two children (pre-school & primary school age) 
• Two parent & two children (primary & secondary school age) 
• One parent & two children (pre-school & primary school age) 
• Single Adult 

The report presents the cost of a minimum essential food basket for 6 household types, adjusted to reflect food costs in 2024. The cost of a minimum essential healthy food basket and the cost of a Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL)for these household types builds on previous research, which presented costs for these household types for 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.