How Much Does the Average Person Spend on Food per Week in the UK?
With grocery bills increasing nearly after every visit to the supermarket, many Brits are altering their shopping habits. By switching to budget-friendly stores or buying less food, UK citizens try to cut costs and adjust to the new economic situation.
But how much does the average person spend on food per week in the UK in 2023? How much did inflation raise the bills for food and non-alcoholic drinks? Let’s find out.
How much does the average person spend on food per week in the UK?
Inflation in the UK is at a 40-year high, and the rate at which prices increase is alarming and hard to keep up. Of course, the UK is not immune to the global economic crisis, with multiple factors affecting the inflation rate. According to the ONS, the consumer prices index reached 10.5% in December 2022.
So, considering these aspects, experts believe that the average weekly food shop per UK citizen is around £35. The spending increases as we look at households with more members, and a typical UK household spends around £114 per week on food and non-alcoholic drinks.
Compared to the previous year, UK households spend approximately 15% more on food, with around 16% of households' budgets allocated toward grocery shopping.
What’s the average food shop for 1 in the UK?
Determining the average grocery bill is challenging because Brits have varying tastes and purchasing habits. In addition, shopping at Aldi or Lidl can be significantly cheaper than buying food and other items at Morrisons or Waitrose.
Nevertheless, the latest statistics reveal that the average food costs per month for one person in the UK are around £140-£150. So, if we break this down, we’ll see that a single person in the United Kingdom spends approximately £35 weekly on food and non-alcoholic drinks. As expected, high-income Brits are likely to have higher grocery bills than average.
What’s the average weekly shop for 2 in the UK?
Again, weekly expenses for UK adults are subject to inflation, with spikes in living costs impacting the British economy continuously. Thus, take the latest statistics with a pinch of salt and understand that grocery bills vary from one Brit to another.
However, most experts will agree that the average weekly food shop for two adults in the UK should be around £70. In other words, two people in the UK spend approximately £280-£300 on food and non-alcoholic drinks. Of course, these figures only refer to food bought for home cooking and consumption. The costs increase if the pair frequently eats in pubs and restaurants.
What’s the average food bill for a family of 3 in the UK?
Families of three typically comprise two young adults and a child, so the average numbers primarily illustrate this arrangement. As expected, a kid or a teenager increases grocery bills, given the high prices of nutritious meals for our youngest. On top of that, kids can have expensive tastes, primarily influenced by advertising campaigns.
Overall, the average cost of food per month for a family of 3 is £606, with £439 spent on grocery bills and £166 on restaurant meals and takeaways. So, the weekly spending for a family of three amounts to around £115. Processed meat and fresh fruit take the biggest bit out of the budget, with fresh vegetables in third place.
What’s the average weekly spend on food for a family of 4?
A four-person family in the UK has the highest food costs of all the categories listed above, although these average household expenses mainly reflect pre-inflation levels. In other words, the actual figures for 2023 are likely higher than those depicted in the government statistics.
A typical UK family with two adults and two children spends around £770 on an average weekly food shop. Weekly, the average four-person family spends approximately £129 on food and non-alcoholic drinks. Of course, UK families don’t always eat at home, and the average monthly spending on restaurant meals amounts to £212. Likewise, these figures vary between income groups.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, the actual food budgets vary across age groups, family size, and income status. Nevertheless, the common thread in the statistics above is the whopping increase in average grocery bills over the past year or two.
Since inflation shows no signs of slowing down, Brits will have to count their pennies for a bit more and weather the storm.
