UK food prices on the rise and so is every other bill

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
8 Nov 2022 15:16

According to report published by the Kantar Worldpanel, the cost of grocery shopping in the UK recorded a £682 rise year to year.

UK protesters attend a demonstration in Parliament Square about the rising cost of living and energy bills

The cost of grocery shopping for UK residents has hit a staggering £682 rise per year compared to the same period last year, and around a £40 increase from last month, according to a report by Kantar Worldpanel.

The industry report warned that it's too premature to foretell the date at which the food price inflation will hit its peak, adding that food inflation has reached a new record of 14.7 percent during October, while it was 13.9 percent during September at a £643 yearly average increase.

According to Sainsbury's, the second-largest supermarket chain in the UK, people were rationing eating outside and preferred to eat at home to try and lower monthly consumption costs to embrace the looming impact of skyrocketing energy bills during the winter.

Grocery sales have jumped 5.2 percent over the course of 3 months leading to October end, the fastest recorded rate of growth since April 2021, according to Kantar.

Separate data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that food shopping drove a 1.6% rise in overall retail sales last month.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) in a separate data survey revealed that food purchases claimed 1.6 percent of retail sales during October.

"As the cost of living for consumers continued to rise, retail sales slowed in October," said Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC.

"With November Black Friday sales just around the corner, many people look to be delaying spending, particularly on bigger purchases," noted Dickinson, adding that, "Clothing and footwear, which saw stronger sales this year, declined as the mild weather meant customers held back on buying winter outfits."

Kantar's report showed that demand for labeled goods in supermarkets reached a 10.3 percent rise during the previous one-month period as sales of cheap labels rose by 42 percent.

"Yet again, we have a new record high figure for grocery price inflation and it's too early right now to call the top," said Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight, Fraser McKevitt.

"Consumers face a £682 jump in their annual grocery bill if they continue to buy the same items and just over a quarter of all households (27%) now say they're struggling financially, which is double the proportion we recorded last November," added McKevitt.

It's noteworthy that the UK economy witnessed in 2020 an 11% drop, the biggest since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began keeping records, and the UK’s largest GDP slump since 1709, the year of the ‘Great Frost,’ when the country’s economy shrank by 13.4%, according to historical data provided by the Bank of England last August.