Supermarket plastic bag charge has led to 98% drop in use in England, data shows

The average person in England now buys only two single-use plastic bags a year from major retailers, the government says. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Environmental campaigners have called on the government to learn from its own successes after official figures showed the use of single-use supermarket plastic bags had fallen 98% since retailers in England began charging for them in 2015.

Annual distribution of plastic carrier bags by seven leading grocery chains plummeted from 7.6bn in 2014 to 133m last year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Monday.