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Food: Prices

Asked by Damian HindsConservativeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 5 March 2025UIN 30584

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the retail price of a basket of food goods (a) in cash terms and (b) as a proportion of average family income spent on food goods in (i) the UK and (b) comparable countries.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

The Office for National Statistics reports the average weekly household expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages in the UK, which is collected via ONS’s Living Costs and Food Survey and published in Family Spending in the UK.

OECD Data Explorer publishes annual household final consumption expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as total expenditure, in the G7 countries. Using this data, it is possible to calculate the proportion of expenditure spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages. The UK data is taken from the Office for National Statistics’ Consumer Trends publication.

G7 countries

% of expenditure spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages (2022)

Canada

9.4

France

13.2

Germany

11.5

Italy

14.4

Japan

15.9

United Kingdom

8.4

Unites States

6.9

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