New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the cheapest items on supermarket shelves have risen by two-thirds in the last year.
Already struggling households and families will have to swallow increases like the price of the least expensive pasta rising by 60% in the last year. Other staple items like the cheapest vegetable oil on supermarket shelves have jumped by 65%.
Statisticians at the ONS collected more than a million prices from supermarket websites over the past year to compare the cost of the cheapest available produce. The shocking figures show the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on poorer households across the UK.
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The study also showed that the cheapest tea had risen in price by 46%, chips rose 39%, bread was up 38% and biscuits up 34%. Some items have gone down in price, with orange juice down 9% and beef mince down 7.4%.
“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,” Sir Ian said.
The survey also found that seven in 10 (69%) of black adults are finding it difficult to afford their energy bills, compared to just 44% of white adults. The survey showed that 59% of Asian adults were struggling with energy bills.
The figures show over half (55%) of disabled adults reported finding it difficult to afford their energy bills and around a third (36%) found it difficult to afford their rent or mortgage payments – compared with 40% and 27% of non-disabled people respectively.
Sir Ian added: “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.”
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