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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
William Mata

Brexit has cost average shopper extra £210 a year for food bills, research says

Annual food inflation had risen while Brexit is also said to be hitting bills

(Picture: PA Wire)

British consumers are now spending £210 more per year on food shopping because of the departure from the European Union, research has found.

Additional checks and requirements on goods crossing the border have increased food prices by 6 per cent overall, the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics has found.

Around £5.8 billion more per year is being spent every year, the report released on Thursday said, with the poorest likely to be spending a greater share of their pay cheque on food.

The centre found that while the UK did not leave the EU until the start of 2021, disruption has been in the works for a while.

It was noted in the report that the exit agreement lacked the nuance needed to smooth out the transition without consumers being out of pocket - despite trade still being tariff free.

It comes at a time when food inflation has reached a new high of 12.4 per cent - with meat, dairy and coffee being particularly affected.

University of Bristol professor Richard Davies, the co-author of the study, said: "One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU.

"In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.”

He added that firms are facing higher costs and these are being passed onto consumers.

Nikhil Datta, a fellow co-author, added: “Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade that should be a first-order concern, at least on par with tariffs, for policymakers interested in low consumer prices.”

Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have ruled out taking further steps towards a model more closely resembling EU membership - despite probing in the Commons this week from Scottish National Party’s leader in Westminster Ian Blackford.

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