Anyone who’s pushed a trolley round a supermarket over the past few years doesn’t need telling that the weekly food shop is taking a much bigger bite out of the household budget.
While headline inflation figures give a broad view of the economy, the reality on the shelves tells a far more dramatic story, with certain everyday staples shooting up in price at a staggering rate while other items have barely budged.
New analysis tracking supermarket pricing trends shows exactly which kitchen essentials have seen the steepest increases since the cost of living crisis took hold, and several of the figures are eye-watering. From dairy and cooking oils to tinned goods and bakery favourites, these are some of the staples driving up your till receipt, the rare items that have actually come down in price, and what it all means for your shopping budget.
Inflation is still climbing, and it’s hit food particularly hard.
Inflation rose to 2.9% last month, up from a 15-month low of 2.6% back in June, marking the highest rate of price increases since March. Rising energy costs, driven partly by conflict in the Middle East, have been a major factor behind the latest jump, since energy prices tend to filter through into almost every other cost, from transporting food to running the shops that sell it.
Taken as a whole, prices have climbed by 28% cumulatively since the cost of living crisis first began five years ago, according to official figures. That’s a substantial jump over a relatively short period, and it explains why so many shoppers say their trolley costs noticeably more than it used to, even when they’re buying broadly the same items each week.
Olive oil has seen the steepest rise of any item.
No everyday grocery item has gone up faster than olive oil, which has more than doubled in price over the past five years, up 116%. Prices actually climbed even higher than current levels at one point, driven by a combination of poor harvests and rising energy costs, before easing back down slightly from that peak.
Ongoing drought across parts of Europe this summer is expected to push prices up again, with UK food producers warning that soaring temperatures and dry conditions across the UK and Europe are likely to keep driving costs higher still. For households that rely heavily on olive oil for cooking, it might be worth keeping an eye out for own brand alternatives or considering rapeseed oil, which has generally stayed cheaper and works well for most everyday cooking needs.
Everyday staples like eggs, milk, and beef have all jumped sharply.
Beyond olive oil, plenty of kitchen basics have seen steep rises too. Egg prices have gone up by 56.7%, while milk has risen by 45.8%. Given how often both feature in a typical weekly shop, from breakfast to baking, these increases add up quickly even if they don’t feel as dramatic as the olive oil figures at first glance.
Beef has climbed by 61.3%, and offal has increased even more sharply, up 75.8%. Pasta and chocolate have also seen significant jumps, rising by 54.9% and 51.2% respectively. Together, these figures paint a picture of a shopping basket that’s become noticeably more expensive across almost every food group, rather than just one or two standout items.
It’s not just food, car insurance has soared too.
Groceries aren’t the only cost that’s shot up. Car insurance has risen by 72% over the same period, driven by a rise in car thefts alongside higher repair costs as vehicle technology becomes more advanced and expensive to fix. Modern cars increasingly rely on sensors, cameras, and computer systems that are far pricier to repair or replace than older, simpler parts, which has pushed up the average cost of even minor repairs.
It’s a reminder that the cost of living crisis has touched far more than just the weekly food shop, and that household budgets have been squeezed from multiple directions at once rather than a single source. Anyone due to renew their car insurance soon may want to shop around more than usual, since prices can vary considerably between providers even for similar levels of cover.
Almost every category in the shopping basket has got more expensive.
Out of 192 categories that make up the official inflation basket, only 14 are actually cheaper now than they were back in July 2021, showing just how widespread these price rises have really been. It’s a striking reminder that price increases haven’t just been limited to a handful of standout items, but have touched almost everything most households regularly buy, from staple foods through to everyday services.
This kind of broad-based rise tends to be harder to budget around than a single expensive item, since there’s no obvious place to cut back without it affecting several areas of spending at once. It also helps explain why so many people report feeling like their money simply doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, even when their actual spending habits haven’t changed much.
A handful of items have actually got cheaper.
Not everything has gone up, though. Cleaning equipment has dropped in price by 10.7%, while laptops have fallen by 24.6%. Television sets and other electronics have seen an even bigger drop, down by around 30%, continuing a longer-term trend that’s seen the cost of tech goods fall steadily over the past decade or so.
It’s worth noting that some of this apparent fall may partly reflect how statisticians adjust figures to account for improvements in technology over time, rather than pure price drops alone. A modern television, for instance, typically offers far better picture quality and additional features compared with one from five years ago, so the price comparison isn’t always a straightforward like for like measure.
Some prices have risen faster than others.
The scale of these price rises often comes down to how exposed a product is to global supply issues. Olive oil, for example, depends heavily on harvests across a small number of Mediterranean countries, so a bad growing season in just one or two of those regions can send prices climbing sharply across the board. Similar issues have affected other imported goods, particularly anything reliant on specific growing conditions or a limited number of producing countries.
Energy costs also play a bigger role than many shoppers realise. Producing, processing, refrigerating and transporting food all require energy, so when energy prices rise, that cost tends to work its way through the entire supply chain before it reaches supermarket shelves. This is part of why so many unrelated products have risen in price together, rather than the increases being limited to items directly impacted by poor harvests or shortages.
What does this mean for your weekly shop going forward?
With prices unlikely to fall back to where they were five years ago, many shoppers are adjusting how they buy rather than waiting for costs to drop. Switching to supermarket own brand products, buying certain items in bulk when they’re on offer, and being more flexible about which brands you buy can all help soften the impact of these ongoing rises.
It’s also worth tracking prices on the items you buy most often, since even small percentage increases can add up significantly over a year if they apply to something you’re purchasing weekly. Loyalty schemes and price matching apps have become increasingly useful tools for keeping costs down, particularly for households trying to stick to a fixed weekly budget despite prices continuing to change.
