Food Price Inflation 17th Month Of Continual Rises

18th January 2023

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 16.9% in the 12 months to December 2022, up from 16.5% in November. The annual rate of inflation for this category has risen for 17 consecutive months, from minus 0.6% in July 2021. Indicative modelled estimates suggest that the rate would have last been higher in September 1977, when it was estimated to be 17.6%.

The increase in the annual rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages between November and December 2022 was driven by price movements from 4 of the 11 detailed classes. The largest upward effect came from milk, cheese and eggs, where prices overall rose 4.1% between November and December 2022 compared with a smaller rise of 1.5% between the same two months in 2021. There were further upward effects from sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate and confectionery, and mineral waters, soft drinks and juices that were offset by a small downward effect from bread and cereals. Prices rose in the month to December 2022 for all three categories; however, in the case of bread and cereals, they rose more slowly than in the same month of the previous year.

Note
The above are extracts from the ONS report.
To read the report full ONS go HERE