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Range of 30 low-cost items increase in price by 17 per cent in last year – ONS

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Tesco and Sainsbury’s — who account for nearly half the UK’s grocery market, according to retail research group Assosia — saw their combined profits rise to £1.5 billion in 2022, a rise of more than 50 per cent on last year, according to Lib Dem number-crunching

A range of 30 every-day low-cost items have increased in price by 17 per cent in the last year, new figures have revealed.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show a range of products went up considerably over the 12 months to September, as the cost of living continues to bite. 

Items including vegetable oil, fresh fruit and vegetables, cupboard staples, meat and fish, were monitored by the ONS who from April 2021 to September 2022, recorded prices from seven major supermarket retailer websites.

Those supermarkets are: Asda, the Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.

They found the lowest-priced groceries had a big change in price, with some items increasing by more than 20 per cent. 

It also found that with 15 of the 30 items, the prices increase on average at a faster rate than CPI inflation for food and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Nine of the items increased by more than 20 per cent since September and for three of those low-cost items, the price rose by 40 per cent. 

Vegetable oil rose by 65 per cent, while pasta was up 60 per cent and tea, 46 per cent, while the ONS highlights that four items fell in price over that time, including fruit juice, beef mince.

“While the recent spike in inflation began with energy prices, today’s fresh insights using a new innovative data source show they are now filtering through to other important items, with the cheapest price of some staple food items rising by around two thirds in the last year”, said National Statistician Sir Ian Diamond.

“Figures from our near real time survey of people show that while rises in food and energy costs are affecting many people across the country, those who are disabled, from certain ethnic minority backgrounds and renters are among those struggling the most.

“With rises in the cost of living at the forefront of many people’s minds, our new, almost real time, data showing just how prices are changing and shining a light on how different groups are affected have never been more important.”