How to calculate your personal inflation rate for groceries from your own receipts
You calculate your personal inflation rate for groceries from your receipts: (price now − price then) ÷ price then × 100, for 15 to 20 items you buy often. It can differ from the official rate: in September 2026 food and non-alcoholic drinks in Switzerland cost 1.0% less than a year earlier (Federal Statistical Office, Swiss consumer price index).
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Your personal inflation rate is how much more or less you pay now for the same groceries than a year ago. It can be far from the official average: in September 2026, food and non-alcoholic drinks cost 1.0% less than a year earlier, but eggs cost 2.2% more (FSO). You work it out from today’s receipts and last year’s.
Updated October 2026. Sources: Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Swiss consumer price index (press releases of 1 October 2026 and 8 January 2026, detailed table for September 2026) and Individual Inflation Calculator (viewed on 8 October 2026).
What is personal inflation, and why is it different from the official rate?
Personal inflation tracks your own basket; the official consumer price index (CPI) tracks the basket of an average household, from rent to transport. In the FSO index, food and non-alcoholic drinks make up 10.307% of the 2026 basket: in September 2026 they were 1.0% below their level a year earlier, while the overall index rose 1.0%. From December 2020 to December 2025, food and non-alcoholic drinks rose 4.1% and prices overall 6.9% (FSO).
For context, see grocery inflation in Switzerland in 2026 and, for the long view, how Swiss grocery prices have changed over time.
Your own inflation starts from your own receipts: Rappn keeps them by month and category, and you can export them for the calculation.
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Your spending
How do you calculate your personal inflation rate?
For one item, use (price now − price a year ago) ÷ price a year ago × 100. A positive result means it became more expensive, a negative one that it became cheaper.
For the basket, do not take a simple average of the percentages: the coffee you buy every week matters more than spices bought twice a year. Keep the quantities fixed, as the official index does with its basket: add up quantity × today’s price for all your items, divide by the same sum at last year’s prices, subtract 1 and multiply by 100. The result is the average change, weighted by each item’s share of what you spent then: with September 2026 figures, a basket where you spent half on meat (−2.2%) and half on vegetables (+1.7%) last year gives 0.5 × (−2.2) + 0.5 × 1.7 = −0.25%.
FSO calculator, receipts or total spending: which method should you use?
| Method | What it measures | What you need | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Inflation Calculator (FSO) | Inflation for your spending pattern, with official price changes | Household type and income, or spending per category | Food is a single line, with the national price change |
| Your receipts | Inflation on your items, at your prices | Receipts from now and from a year ago | Takes time; pack sizes and promotions must match |
| Total spending | How much your spending changed | Monthly totals | Mixes prices and quantities: an extra guest looks like inflation |
The calculator is free at lik-app.bfs.admin.ch and compares your inflation with the average. For groceries, though, it only knows how much of your budget they take, not what you actually buy.
How do you calculate your personal inflation rate from your receipts, in 6 steps?
- Choose 15 to 20 items you buy every month: bread, milk, eggs, pasta, coffee, cheese, meat, fruit, vegetables.
- Find last year’s prices on receipts from the same month, on paper, as photos, or as PDF or CSV files (to sort them, see how to analyse your grocery receipts).
- Note today’s prices, from the same shop if you can.
- Compare like with like: the same pack size or the price per litre or kilo, which also exposes shrinkflation, a pack that shrinks while its price stays the same. Switching to an own brand is a choice, not inflation.
- Calculate in a spreadsheet, one row per item. With an AI assistant, follow the guide to analysing grocery spending with AI and check the total.
- Repeat every quarter against the same period a year earlier, because fruit and vegetables follow the seasons.
Why can your rate be higher or lower?
| Product (FSO categories) | Change from September 2025 to September 2026, in % |
|---|---|
| Soft drinks | +7.1 |
| Berries | +2.6 |
| Eggs | +2.2 |
| Vegetables, mushrooms and potatoes | +1.7 |
| Food and non-alcoholic beverages | −1.0 |
| Coffee | −1.9 |
| Cheese | −1.9 |
| Meat and meat products | −2.2 |
| Bread | −2.5 |
| Chocolate | −3.7 |
Source: FSO, Swiss consumer price index, detailed table for September 2026.
- Brands. With many own brands in your basket, your rate follows their prices.
- Promotions. An item bought on promotion a year ago and at full price today inflates your rate: compare regular prices (the discount usually sits on a separate line of the receipt).
- Shop. Switching supermarkets is not inflation. Receipts in euros from shopping across the border also reflect the exchange rate, so keep them apart.
How can Rappn help with your personal inflation rate?
Rappn is a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview. It sorts your purchases into categories, shows your spending by month next to your own monthly average and lets you export your receipts as PDF or CSV. Your first step, today: photograph this week’s receipts or upload them from your gallery; a year from now they will be your “then”. Rappn does not calculate a personal inflation rate: you do that yourself. The app covers groceries, not rent or insurance.
If you want your own figure rather than an average, the free Rappn app imports the receipts of three big Swiss supermarkets’ loyalty programmes, up to 12 months back, and you add the others by photo; it then shows your spending by category and by month. You need a Rappn account and must be an adult; the programmes’ terms still apply and the operator can restrict the link (how linking works).
Updated: .
Why Rappn?
Rappn is an independent grocery price comparison app in Switzerland, with no commercial agreements with any retailer. Our comparisons are truly independent.
- 100% free: no subscription, no hidden costs
- Neutral: no commercial agreements with Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro, or Otto’s
- Updated daily, as soon as the chains publish their deals
- The chains’ deals in one place: search, filter, compare, no subscription
- Meal planner in the Kitchen tab: plan the week, send the ingredients to your list
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate my personal inflation rate?
For one item, calculate (price now − price a year ago) ÷ price a year ago × 100. For a whole basket, divide the sum of quantity × today’s price by the same sum at last year’s prices, subtract 1 and multiply by 100. The easiest source for the prices is your own receipts: take 15 to 20 items you buy often.
Which period should I compare for my personal inflation?
The same month, or the same three months, one year apart, so that fruit and vegetables are in the same season. For reference, in September 2026 food and non-alcoholic drinks cost 1.0% less than a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). For the picture of 2026 so far, see the guide to grocery inflation in Switzerland in 2026.
Does the official Swiss inflation calculator use my receipts?
No. The Federal Statistical Office’s Individual Inflation Calculator adjusts the basket weights to your household type, income or spending per category, but it applies the official price change of each category, and food is a single line in it. The prices of your own products are only on your receipts.
Why is my grocery spending rising faster than official inflation?
Often it is quantities, not prices: an extra guest, more organic food, growing children or more snacks on the go push the total up even when prices stay the same. If the same items really cost more, check which products you buy, because prices move differently from one to the next: in September 2026, for example, eggs cost 2.2% more than a year earlier according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), while food and non-alcoholic drinks cost 1.0% less on average.
Can I use last year’s receipts to work out my personal inflation?
Yes, if you kept them: on paper, as photos or as PDFs from the customer account, if your loyalty programme keeps them. With the free Rappn app you can also import up to 12 months of receipts from the loyalty programmes of three big Swiss supermarkets if you have a Rappn account and are 18 or older; the programmes’ terms still apply and their operator can restrict the link. Rappn is independent: no supermarket runs, sponsors or endorses it. Receipts from other shops go in by photo.