Official price indices show chocolate, beef and butter up by more than 40% between Christmas 2021 and Christmas 2025, while ham, wine and vegetables rose by less than food prices in general. These charts track each part of the dinner.
Chocolate has risen faster than the turkey
The box of chocolates on the table has gone up more than almost anything else in the Christmas dinner. CSO price indices show chocolate prices rose by 48.1% between December 2021 and December 2025. Poultry, the group that includes turkey, rose by 25.4%.
These figures come from the Consumer Price Index (CPI: the official measure of price changes, published each month by the Central Statistics Office). The CSO tracks hundreds of items in shops across the country. For single items we compare December 2021 with December 2025, because the CSO changed its item groups in January 2026.
Food prices are a quarter higher than at Christmas 2021
Food and soft drinks as a whole cost 25.6% more in September 2026 than in December 2021. Prices of everything in the CPI rose by 21.8% over the same time. So food has risen a little faster than prices in general.
Most of that rise came in 2022. Food prices rose by 11.7% in the 12 months to December 2022, the biggest jump in this period. The pace has slowed a lot since then.
Food and soft drinks make up 12.3% of the CPI basket in 2026, the CSO weights show. In the 12 months to September 2026, food added just 0.04 percentage points to the 4.1% inflation rate. Housing and energy (15.4%) and restaurants and accommodation (20.0%) carry bigger weights.
The big jump came in 2022
The chart below shows how much food prices rose in each 12-month period to December. The rate peaked at 11.7% at the end of 2022. By September 2026 it had fallen to 0.4%, the lowest in this series.
Food prices are still rising fast.
Food prices rose by 0.4% in the 12 months to September 2026, according to the CSO. Prices are much higher than in 2021, but they are now rising slowly.
Turkey rose in line with food; ham rose less
The CSO does not publish a separate price for turkey. It is counted in poultry, which also includes chicken. Poultry rose by 25.4% from December 2021 to December 2025, about the same as food in general.
Ham, bacon and other smoked meats rose by 18.3%, one of the smallest rises on the chart. Pork rose by 32.3%. Beef rose by 46.4%, so a beef joint cost almost half as much again at Christmas 2025 as at Christmas 2021.
| Item | Dec 2021 to Dec 2025 | 12 months to Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Poultry (incl. turkey) | +25.4% | -0.1% |
| Ham, bacon, smoked meat | +18.3% | -3.1% |
| Pork | +32.3% | -3.3% |
| Beef | +46.4% | +3.0% |
| Potatoes | +23.1% | 0.0% |
| Vegetables | +22.6% | -0.7% |
| Bread | +22.2% | +0.9% |
| Butter | +44.5% | -9.3% |
| Chocolate | +48.1% | +0.6% |
| Wine | +13.6% | +1.0% |
Butter is cheaper than a year ago
Some items got cheaper in the past year. The butter index fell by 9.3% in the 12 months to September 2026. The CSO average price for a pound of butter was €4.24, down 57 cent on September 2025.
National average price of a pound of butter in September 2026, down 57c in a year
Source: cso.ieOther staples barely moved. A 2.5kg bag of potatoes averaged €3.67 and a large white sliced pan €1.67 in September 2026, both up just 1 cent in a year. Pork and ham indices were lower than a year earlier.
Eggs and milk, used in stuffing, sauces and desserts, are the exceptions over the longer period. The CSO egg index rose by 34.6% from December 2021 to December 2025. Fresh whole milk rose by 42.9% (Irish Wire calculation).
Drink: beer and spirits up more than wine
Beer rose by 26.1% and spirits by 21.9% between December 2021 and December 2025. Wine rose by 13.6%, the smallest rise among the items here. In the 12 months to September 2026, spirits fell by 1.3% while wine rose by 1.0%.
A Christmas drink in the pub costs more than a year ago. The CSO average price of a pint of stout was €6.33 in September 2026, up 26 cent in 12 months. A pint of lager averaged €6.75, up 25 cent.
How to read these figures
- A price index shows how prices change over time. It does not tell you what a full dinner costs.
- The figures are national averages. Prices in your local shop may differ, and special offers before Christmas are common.
- In January 2026 the CSO moved to a new way of grouping items. So we compare single items from December 2021 to December 2025, and show 2026 changes separately.
- Poultry covers turkey and chicken together. Ham is counted with bacon and other smoked or salted meat.
- To estimate your own dinner, multiply what you spent in December 2021 by 1.256, the rise in the food index to September 2026.
What happens next
The CSO will publish CPI figures for November 2026 in December 2026. The December 2026 figures, which cover the Christmas shopping weeks, follow in January 2027. We will update this page when they appear.
For most households, the main change since 2021 is the level of prices, not the pace. A dinner basket that cost €100 in December 2021 would cost about €125 at September 2026 food prices. That is based on the food index, not a priced shopping list.
CSO: Consumer Price Index October 2026
CSO: Consumer Price Index November 2026
CSO: Consumer Price Index December 2026, covering Christmas prices
