Half of people in the UK have reported buying less food when shopping in recent weeks, according to new figures which expose how cost pressures are hammering households. The survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the rising cost of living has caused people to cut back on spending and left a significant proportion of households struggling to afford to eat.
Half of adults who took part in the survey over the two weeks to January 29 said they were buying less when food shopping, slightly more than the amount who said so in a previous survey. It comes as grocery price inflation surged to 16.7% in January, adding a potential £788 to annual shopping bills for people who do not change their shopping behaviour, according to analysts Kantar.
It marked the highest inflation figure since their records began in 2008.
Price rises have taken a toll on British households. Around a tenth of adults reported that they often, or sometimes, run out of food and could not afford to buy more in the past month, the ONS found. Some 13% said they had cut down meal size or skipped meals in the past month because there was not enough money for food. About a fifth of those adults said they had done so for more than a fortnight in the month.
