According to official numbers released on Friday, nearly half of British citizens have reduced their food purchases as costs rise, while others have had to increase their spending on groceries.

British consumer price inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in May, with food and drink costs up 8.6 per cent, and the Bank of England anticipates annual CPI to top 11 per cent in October, when regulated energy tariffs climb by 40 per cent.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 49 per cent of consumers bought less food than usual between June 22 and July 3, up from only 8 per cent when the survey began in September 2021.

Another 48 per cent stated that they had to spend more money than usual on food. Overall, 91 per cent of participants reported that their cost of living had increased in the previous month.

These results corroborate comments from British supermarkets that customers are under rising financial strain.

On Tuesday, Sainsbury’s reported a 4 per cent reduction in underlying quarterly sales, while Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, said customers were making smaller, more frequent shopping trips and purchasing cheaper own-brand items. 

Citigroup predicted last month that food price inflation in the United Kingdom will top 20 per cent by early next year.

(Adapted from EuroNews.com)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Entrepreneurship, Geopolitics, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Sustainability