Yahoo Finance Cost of pasta jumps 50% as inflation hits poorest households
Supermarket grocery costs have surged with the cost of basic items such as pasta up by as much as 50% and everyday items climbing 15% in price, new ONS data shows.
Looking at 30 types of food, the Office for National Statistics said that the lowest-priced items in particular ranges had risen by 6-7% in the year to April.
The cost of the cheapest 500 gram (17.6 oz) pack of pasta at a UK supermarket last month was 53p ($0.67), a 50% increase from 36p a year earlier, while the price of an 800 gram loaf of bread rose by 16% to 54p.
The 50% surge in the price of pasta is the most notable, but others include crisps (17%), bread (16%), minced beef (16%) and rice (15%).
The cost of potatoes fell 14%, cheese prices were down 7% and pizzas cost 4% less than a year before.
In cash terms, the largest price rises, on average, were measured for beef mince, which was up 32p for 500g to £2.34, and chicken breast, which rose 28p to £3.50 for 600g).
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The analysis suggested that the disappearance of budget ranges would hit poorer shoppers, with a large step of 20% up to the next price point for two-thirds of the items tracked.
The ONS carried out the research after concerns raised by campaigner Jack Monroe suggested that headline inflation figures were misleading, and under-stated the intensity of cost increases for households who were trying to buy the cheapest products.
"People are being priced out of their dinner" - great to see real expert @BootstrapCook on BBC breaking down the cost of living crisis with real numbers and examples pic.twitter.com/8tMn1s4QPk
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Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor, said: “Shopping for groceries is taking a bigger bite out of household budgets amid the unrelenting rise in prices. The heightened cost to put food on the table is difficult to stomach at a time when the cost of seemingly everything else from energy bills to petrol is on the up.
“Many of us are feeling the inflation pinch most through the food we buy, and the headline inflation figures often drastically underestimates the extent of real-world food inflation, with some items, like pasta up 50% in a year, while other popular items such as crisps, bread, minced beef and rice up by sizeable percentages over the same period.
“It is important to remember that every shopping basket is different and, as such, the impact of food inflation is unique to each individual.
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“We all have our own inflation number, and it is worth keeping tabs on your spending habits to get a better idea of the goods and services that are eating most into your budget, and where you could cut back as the cost of living continues to surge. Look at what makes sense for you — not an arbitrary measurement from anyone else.”
Anti-poverty campaigners have pointed to sharp price rises in the cheapest categories of many food staples.
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Budget range inflation has dealt a nasty blow to shoppers on low incomes.
“The price of supermarket budget ranges is rising no faster than the overall cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks. However, these rises are much more difficult to deal with when you’re shopping on a low budget and have nowhere to turn.
“The overall figure also hides the fact that once you’ve made it to the supermarket, the budget range may not be available. Not every supermarket stocks every budget item, and in some cases there may be nothing left on the shelf.
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“The danger is that if you’re forced to buy the next cheapest, the difference can be horrendous. In two-thirds of cases, the difference between the lowest-cost version and the next cheapest was at least 20%. For four items, the difference was more than 50%."
The ONS trained algorithms to select the cheapest possible alternatives on the websites of Asda, the Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L), Tesco (TSCO.L) and Waitrose, and tracked its price over the year.
The statistics body cautioned that it was “highly experimental research, based on web-scraped supermarket data for 30 everyday grocery items”, and pointed to a series of limitations to the data.
