Budget pasta prices leap 50% in a year as affordable household staples come under pressure
Pasta, crisps and bread are among the affordable staples seeing the largest price hikes, official data has revealed.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published fresh figures looking at price inflation for the cheapest items available across food categories.
Official analysis has found the cheapest items have surged in price by around as much as average food and non-alcoholic drinks prices, both rising around six to seven per cent in the past year.
It comes as campaigner Jack Monroe has claimed it is “far more expensive” to be poor and previously pushed official statisticians to look at cost increases for budget products.
For 13 out of 30 sampled items monitored, the average lowest price increased at a faster pace than the most recent measure of food and soft drink inflation.
For 10 items, the lowest-cost price increased by more than 10 per cent, and for 5 of those 10 items the lowest-cost price rose by 15 per cent or more.
Pasta saw the biggest increase, rising 50 per cent in the year to April 2022 while the price of crisps has also shot up 17 per cent. Bread has risen 16 per cent.
Minced beef and rice also saw sharp price rises, rising 16 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
However, for six prices of the 30 items, the lowest prices dropped on average over the past year.
Price decreases were measured for potatoes, which fell 14 per cent, and cheese, which dropped seven per cent.
Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor, said : “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 per cent in a year, while other popular items such as crisps, bread, minced beef and rice up by sizeable percentages over the same period.”
He added: “It is important to remember that every shopping basket is different and, as such, the impact of food inflation is unique to each individual.”