Cost of groceries in Belgium expected to go down

Grocery shopping in Belgium is about to become more affordable, writes La Libre Belgique based on a study by market research agency Nielsen.

Currently, the price of food products in Belgium is on average 7 to 14% higher than in neighbouring countries, a difference that increased sharply between 2011 and 2013, according to Nielsen.

However, prices are expected to drop soon due to a number of factors, including better informed consumers, the growing popularity of ‘hard discount’ retailers such as Aldi and Lidl, new distribution channels such as e-commerce and the arrival of new players from outside Belgium, such as the Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn.

"Of course, one should not expect a decrease of 14% in the coming years, but a decrease of 5 to 7% is not unlikely,” reports Nielsen.