The common value of Christmas dinner is predicted to rise by nearly 10 per cent this 12 months in contrast with final December, as inflation continued to hit family budgets, new information present.
The common worth of a turkey meal for 4 is predicted to value about £31 this festive season, in keeping with analysis by Kantar, launched on Tuesday — 9.3 per cent greater than in 2021.
Frozen turkey will value 15 per cent greater than final 12 months, whereas potatoes are up by 20 per cent and parsnips by as a lot as 30 per cent, the information present.
UK grocery worth inflation fell in November however remained near a 14-year excessive as British customers continued to grapple with the cost of living crisis within the run-up to the festive season.
The speed dipped by 0.1 proportion factors final month to 14.6 per cent, Kantar stated on Tuesday, representing the primary month-on-month drop since April 2021. The quickest rises worth rises have been in milk, pet food and butter.
Kantar’s figures distinction with a report from the British Retail Consortium, a commerce physique, that confirmed meals costs rose 12.4 per cent final month, towards 11.6 per cent in October.
“Grocery inflation nonetheless has an extended option to come down,” stated Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and client perception at Kantar. “Based mostly on the present fee, consumers should spend an additional £60 in December to purchase the identical gadgets as final 12 months.”
The information additionally pointed to a possible slowdown within the total inflation fee this month, after UK inflation hit a 41-year excessive of 11.1 per cent in October. The Workplace for Nationwide Statistics will launch its November figures subsequent week.
“If there’s some excellent news, it’s that we’re most likely near a peak in meals worth inflation,” stated Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
“International agricultural commodity costs have declined by 25 per cent throughout the previous few months,” he stated. “It’s only a matter of time earlier than that filters by into meals costs.”
Grocery costs have been on the rise for about two years, selecting up velocity following cuts in fuel imports from Russia, as Moscow lowered provides as a part of its invasion of Ukraine, which has pushed up vitality payments for UK households and companies.
Surging grocery costs are hitting the poorest households hardest, separate ONS information confirmed. Households within the backside 10 per cent by earnings are likely to spend practically a fifth of their weekly earnings on meals, which is a bigger proportion than that for another earnings group.
