New figures show that grocery price inflation is continued to rise.

The data from Worldpanel by Numerator shows the rate increased from 6.25% to 6.82% over the 12 weeks to 25 January.

The figures also reveal that grocery sales in Ireland rose by 5% in the four-week period to 25 January, with shoppers spending €1.2 billion.

Worldpanel by Numerator said while shoppers made slightly more trips to stores compared to the corresponding period last year, they purchased 1.9% fewer packs year on year, "highlighting continued caution among Irish consumers as grocery inflation rose."

The popularity of online grocery sales is continuing, rising by 7% year on year to take 5.8% value share.

Worldpanel by Numerator said shoppers spent an additional €15m online, with nearly 20% of Irish households purchasing groceries online during the latest 12-week period.

In terms of the overall market share of retailers, Dunnes holds 24.8%, followed by Tesco on 24.4%, while SuperValu holds 19.4% market share, with Lidl holding 13.2% and Aldi at 10.4%.

The report also showed that Irish shoppers spent an additional €454,000 on low and non-alcoholic beverages in January.

"Spending on fresh fruit, chilled smoothies, juices and yoghurts was also on the rise, increasing by more than €8.1 million, while healthcare sales increased 6.8% year on year," Worldpanel by Numerator said.

The figures also show that own label products accounted for 43.4% of total grocery spend, up 0.7 percentage points on the previous month.

Shoppers spent more than €1.7 billion on own label goods over the latest 12-week period.

"The strong performance of premium own label goods also continued, with growth standing at 5%, while branded products remained resilient, growing 7.3%," Worldpanel by Numerator added.