THE UK supermarket that was ranked among the cheapest just a year ago is now the most expensive. Here’s how much the basics cost.

Asda came third in the cheapest prices, behind only budget rivals Lidl and Aldi, 12 months ago, but is now at the top of the list compared to other big retailers.

Analysis of the Manchester Evening News’ (MEN) price tracker of eight essential products found that all but one of the major brands’ prices had risen by 25% or more since 2022.

They measured the cost of a basket of basic items like salted butter, ground beef and a loaf of white bread.

Asda tops the list with a staggering 32.4% increase, taking its basket of essentials from £9.44 to £12.50.

Aldi recorded the second biggest price increase with a 31.4% increase, followed by Lidl and Tesco with 30% and Morrisons with 25%.

Sainsbury’s saw the smallest increase, still 17.8%, but started as the most expensive before.

In terms of overall price, Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s make up the top three, while Lidl is the cheapest.

The budget store offers the essential basket for £11.88, compared to Asda’s £12.50.

This is compared to £9.14 and £9.44 respectively just a year ago.

Soaring inflation has driven prices up, but the resulting cost of living crisis means families are being hit hard by the huge increase in basic spending.

An Asda spokesperson told MEN: “We launched the Just Essentials By Asda range last year to offer customers the option to get all their weekly essentials from the same range of brands at low prices across all our country stores.

“We are working hard to keep prices under control for customers despite global inflationary pressures and we remain the cheapest large supermarket – a position recognized by Which? in their regular monthly basket comparison which named Asda the least expensive supermarket. expensive for a large shop every month for three years.

“Last month, we announced that we would freeze the prices of more than 500 popular branded and private label products, more than half of which are fresh meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables until the end. end of May.”