The cheapest supermarket of the year has been named (Picture: Getty Images)

Aldi has been crowned the cheapest supermarket of the year, after it was found to be the cheapest in the UK for 11 months of the year in 2023. 

The bargain supermarket beat out competition from seven other big supermarkets (Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose) the consumer experts at Which? have revealed.

Rival supermarket Lidl only managed to beat Aldi for one month, in October, when its everyday items were found to be cheaper.

The results for December showed that a basket of 43 groceries on average was £74.83 at Aldi, which was narrowly cheaper than Lidl at £76.74.

Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket at the end of the year, with the same basket costing £94.94. It was also found to be the most expensive supermarket every month throughout 2023.

Aldi was cheapest 11 months out of the year (Picture: Getty Images)

As well as comparing baskets, Which? Also compared the cost of a larger trolley of more than 100 items each month.

These trolleys included branded items and did not include Aldi and Lidl, as the discount retailers don’t always stock the same products.

For the trolleys, Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket for 11 months of the year, with the exception of September when Sainsbury’s was named most expensive for those shopping without a loyalty card.

Asda was the cheapest for the larger trolley shop for 11 months of the year, apart from July 2023, when Morrisons came out on top. 

Waitrose was the most expensive supermarket of the year (Picture: Getty Images)

In December, the larger trolley contained 131 items – the same 43 as the smaller basket, plus 88 more. This included a larger number of branded items, such as Andrex toilet paper and Cathedral City cheese.  

Asda’s 131 products cost £326.77 in total, while Morrisons was £336.41.

This was followed by Ocado (£346.23), Tesco (£349.34), Sainsbury’s (£354.06), and Waitrose where the same shop came to £367.79.

These totals included special offer prices but not multi-buys or loyalty discounts. 

While there are discounts that can be made through loyalty card schemes, these are only available to people prepared to sign up to loyalty schemes. As not every consumer is able to do so Which? considers it fairer only to include prices that are available to all. 

This research shows that people can make considerable savings on their food shop depending on where they choose to shop.

Ele Clark, Which? retail editor, said: ‘With food prices continuing to put immense pressure on household budgets, it’s no surprise to see many people turning to discounters like Aldi and Lidl.

‘Our research shows that Aldi was the cheapest supermarket of 2023, with shoppers saving almost £20 there in December compared to the most expensive store. 

‘Which? believes that supermarkets can do more to help shoppers during the current cost of living crisis. Although some have begun to make progress, we’d like to see all supermarkets stocking their smaller convenience stores with a selection of budget-range healthy foods, particularly in those areas most in need.’

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It was cheaper for 11 months out of the year in 2023.