These store products increased in price the most in January. TOP 5

The “Retail Store Price Index” report by UCE RESEARCH and the WSB Merito University indicates that in January, daily purchases in stores became more expensive on average by 3.7%. compared to the same period in 2025. This concerned food, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and other products, e.g. household chemicals and children’s products (the analysis covered 17 categories of the most frequently purchased products). Let us recall that in December the increase was 3.8% and in November 4.2%. year to year, which means that prices in stores are increasing, but at a slower pace.

– The recent slight decline in growth dynamics is mainly due to seasonal effects, such as Christmas sales ending in December, as well as price stabilization after the New Year. This is typical for January in the grocery trade. For consumers, this is a positive signal of short-term stabilization, although the change is small and does not indicate sudden price drops – comments Dr. Joanna Myślińska-Wieprow from WSB Merito University.

Prices in stores. TOP 5 most expensive products

The report shows that food prices increased by an average of 3.2% in January. year to year, while a month earlier it was 3.1%. – The market does not provide impulses for increased price pressure in the area of ​​food. Its prices remain at the same level of growth as in December. Slight differences in this case are rather cosmetic and may be caused by slight fluctuations in currency rates. These, in turn, remain stable and there is no indication that this situation will change – says Dr. Eng. Anna Motylska-Kuźma from the University of Lower Silesia, DSW.

In the TOP 5 most expensive categories, the leader in January is stimulants (price increase by 10.2% year on year). The next places are taken by household chemicals (an increase of 8.3%), sweets and desserts (an increase of 7.1%), meat (an increase of 6.7%) and food additives (an increase of 5.9%).

The authors of the report indicate that in the case of stimulants, the key role is played by the increase in excise tax rates, which directly translates into retail prices. Motylska-Kuźma points out that the scale of the increases could have been even greater, but some of the solutions proposed by the government were vetoed by the president, which limited the price pressure in this area.

– In the household chemicals segment, growing environmental requirements and the related costs of adapting production processes remain an important factor. Although very high competition in this sector limits the ability to fully pass on costs to consumers, the observed price dynamics are still clearly higher than the average price growth rate in other categories. In turn, in the case of sweets and desserts, the main source of price pressure remains the persistently high prices of raw materials, in particular cocoa and fats. They have been significantly influencing production costs and final prices of these products for a long time – emphasizes an expert from the University of Lower Silesia, DSW.

Vegetables and fruits became cheaper

The report shows that in the first month of 2026, vegetables and fruits fell the most in price – a drop of 4.1%, respectively. and 3.1 percent year to year. Motylska-Kuźma explains that the winter supply structure plays an important role here. Suppliers, preparing for the new season, strive to gradually liquidate inventories, which favors price reductions. In the case of imported products, transport costs and exchange rates are of key importance. Low prices of crude oil and fuels on global markets in the last quarter of 2025 and in January 2026 translated into a decline in transport costs, which limited price pressure in these categories.

The authors of the document point out that January prices in stores remain higher than the inflation itself (last week, the Central Statistical Office reported that the reading for January was only 2.2%). Experts explain that this is primarily due to differences in the construction of both measures. Official consumer inflation covers a broad basket of goods and services, including fuel and energy, the prices of which have been relatively low in recent months and significantly reduced the overall inflation reading. Meanwhile, prices in retail stores are more reflective of changes in the food and consumer goods segments, where cost pressures remain relatively higher.