How much do households in Germany spend on groceries?

€335 per month – that is how much private households in Germany spent on food on average in 2023.

At first, that sounds like a simple number.

But it raises a much more interesting question:

Where does our grocery budget actually go – and how does our own spending compare?

National statistics provide a useful benchmark. Your own receipts, however, can tell a much more personal story.

€335 per household per month

According to Germany's Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, private households spent an average of around €335 per month on food in 2023.

One distinction is important:

The figure is per household, not per person.

It includes a wide range of households, from people living alone to large families and households across different income levels.

The €335 figure is therefore not a recommended grocery budget. It is a statistical average.

What do households spend their food budget on?

The breakdown provides an interesting picture of where the money goes.

Of average food spending:

• 22% went to meat and sausages as well as fish and seafood
• 17% went to cereals and cereal products such as bread, rice and pasta
• 17% went to milk, dairy products and eggs
• 14% went to vegetables, potatoes and similar products
• 9% went to fruit and nuts
• 8% went to sugar and confectionery

Meat, sausages, fish and seafood therefore accounted for the largest individual share among these categories.

Beverages come on top

The €335 figure does not cover every purchase related to eating and drinking.

Households spent an additional average of around €75 per month on beverages.

Of this beverage spending, 55% went to non-alcoholic beverages and 45% to alcoholic beverages.

Again, these are averages across very different types of households.

Eating out is not included

There is another important point when interpreting the figures.

Spending in restaurants, cafés, canteens and similar establishments is not included in these food and beverage figures.

People who regularly eat out, order food or buy drinks while away from home may therefore have significantly higher total food-related spending.

Supermarket purchases are only part of the picture.

What does the average mean for you?

This is where things get interesting.

You might spend €220 per month on groceries.

You might spend €400.

A family might spend €700.

All of these numbers can be perfectly reasonable.

Household size, diet, location, preferred retailers, brands, special offers and shopping habits can all influence the amount you spend.

The most useful question is therefore not:

“Am I above or below €335?”

It is:

“How is my own spending changing?”

Most of us do not know exactly what we spend on groceries

One trip to the supermarket costs €32.80.

A few days later another shop costs €28.40.

Then there is a quick visit to a drugstore, drinks for the weekend and perhaps an unplanned purchase on the way home.

Each amount on its own seems manageable.

Over an entire month, however, it becomes surprisingly difficult to keep track.

That is why looking at your bank balance alone often does not provide enough context.

A receipt contains much more than a total

A receipt does not simply say:

€32.80

It contains the story of a purchase:

• Where did you shop?
• Which products did you buy?
• How much did they cost?
• Which categories are driving your spending?
• Which products do you buy repeatedly?
• How do prices change?
• Have you bought the same or a similar product for less somewhere else?

One receipt cannot reveal much of a pattern.

A collection of receipts can.

This is where BonBert comes in

BonBert turns receipts into structured shopping data.

Take a photo of a receipt or upload it. BonBert processes retailers, products, prices and categories and gradually builds your personal shopping history.

This makes it possible to move beyond individual purchases and start seeing patterns.

How much am I spending?

Your statistics provide a view of spending across weeks, months and longer periods.

You can see which categories account for a large share of your budget and how your spending changes over time.

Are my shopping habits changing?

When grocery spending increases or a particular category starts costing more, a structured shopping history makes these changes easier to identify.

Have I bought this product for less before?

BonBert's personal price comparison uses your own shopping history.

If you have purchased a product at different retailers, price differences can become visible.

That is different from a general catalogue or promotion comparison:

It is based on prices you actually paid.

National average vs. personal average

The Destatis figure of €335 is a useful starting point.

But your personal average can be much more valuable.

Imagine your grocery spending develops like this:

Month	Grocery spending
May	€302
June	€315
July	€344
August	€371

The most interesting question is not whether €371 is above the German average.

It is:

Why did your own spending increase over those months?

Perhaps more people were at home.

Perhaps you stocked up on certain products.

Perhaps you are buying some products more frequently.

Or the prices of items you regularly purchase may have changed.

Numbers become useful when they have context.

That is the idea behind BonBert

We do not simply want to tell you:

“You spent €371 this month.”

Your banking app can already show you transactions.

BonBert is designed to help answer the questions behind that number:

What did you spend it on? Why did it change? And what can you learn from it for your next shopping trip?

For us, the receipt is therefore not the end of a purchase.

It is the beginning of the analysis.

Privacy is part of the product

Shopping behaviour can be highly personal.

That is why privacy is not something we want to address only in a privacy policy. It is part of how BonBert is designed.

Our goal is to process only the information needed for the relevant functionality and to keep recommendations understandable.

Because your purchases belong to you.

Conclusion: €335 is interesting – your own numbers are more valuable

Private households in Germany spent an average of around €335 per month on food in 2023.

The figure provides a useful benchmark.

But it cannot tell you what the right grocery budget is for your household.

Understanding your own average, spotting changes and knowing which purchases sit behind your monthly total is much more valuable.

And that starts with something that normally ends up in the bin shortly after shopping:

your receipt.

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Sources and data

German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 2023 Household Budget Survey: “Gut ein Fünftel der Nahrungsmittelausgaben entfallen auf Fleisch und Fisch”, published 16 June 2026.

The figures shown are statistical averages and should not be interpreted as budget or savings recommendations.

Image notice: Some illustrations and visualisations used in this article were created with the assistance of generative AI and are labelled accordingly.