By Emily Hawkins
Budget staple grocery products have shot up considerably in price this year, as new analysis shows the most vulnerable have been hardest hit by food inflation.
Some 61 per cent of people in the most deprived areas are buying less food compared with last year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This was compared to 44 per cent of consumers in the least deprived areas.
More than four in five adults said that they were concerned about the cost of food during Christmas and New Year.
This was an increase from 62 per cent in the same period last year, according to the Food Standards Agency’s survey.
Most of the lowest-cost daily groceries have surged in price, with increases similar to September’s 15 per cent overall inflation rate for food and drink.
Food and soft drinks saw prices increase by a rate of 16.5 per cent in the 12 months to November 2022, the highest increase since September 1977 (17.6 per cent), the ONS has found.
The ONS looked at a sample of 30 lowest-cost items and found that nine products increased by more than 20 per cent in the year to September 2022.
Budget brands for vegetable oil, pasta and tea saw the largest increases in price during this period.
While vegetable oil rose by 65 per cent, pasta rose by 60 per cent, and tea rose by 46 per cent.
Shoppers have seen the price of their weekly shop increase this year following the war in Ukraine and energy crisis forcing retailers to up prices.
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