Food statistics in your pocket (2024)

£146.7bn The agri-food sector contribution to national Gross Value Added in 2022.

4.2m People employed in the agri-food sector in 2022, 13% of GB employment.

1.3% Food and non-alcoholic beverage price decrease in real terms in the 12 months to June 2024.

£245.5bn Total consumer expenditure on food and alcoholic drinks in 2023.

£24.4bn The value of food and drink exports in 2023.

1. Food Chain

1.1 Gross Value Added of the UK Agri-food chain, 2022

Accredited Official Statistic

The agri-food chain contributed £147.8 billion or 6.5% to national Gross Value Added in 2022.

The GVA of the food chain (excluding agriculture and fishing) was £132.9bn in 2022, increasing by 15.4% since 2021. GVA for all food and drink sectors increased in this period with catering increasing by 23.4%, manufacturing by 15.2%, retail by 2.3% and wholesale by 31.3%.

Longer term, the food chain GVA (excluding agriculture and fishing) increased by 50.8% between 2012 and 2022 while the whole economy increased by 70.0%.

The food chain has less scope for growth as there is a limit to consumer intake capacity but can look to make gains in its efficiency.

Source: Annual Business Survey (ONS) & Chapter 4: Accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) & Regional GVA for the UK, ONS

1.2. Trends in the Total Factor Productivity of the UK Food Chain, 2000 to 2022

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Accredited Official Statistic

Total factor productivity of the UK food chain beyond the farmgate rose by 2.0% between 2021 and 2022. Productivity in the wider economy increased by 2.6%.

The TFP of the UK food chain is an indicator of the efficiency and competitiveness of the food industry within the UK. However, there have been external factors at play in previous years, such as the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In 2022 three of the four food chain sectors had a higher productivity than in 2021. Manufacturing increased by 2.7 per cent, wholesale increased by 2.4 per cent, retail decreased by 0.6 per cent and catering increased by 3.3 per cent. The latter demonstrated a full recovery from the conditions faced during the height of the pandemic.

The calculation is based on reliable data on business sales and costs, employment by industry and on price indices all collected by the Office for National Statistics.

Source: Total Factor Productivity of the United Kingdom Food Chain, Defra

1.3 Agri-Food sector employees (GB), 2023

Accredited Official Statistic

Notes:1. ‘Food’ includes non-alcoholic drinks. ‘Drink’ is alcoholic drinks2. Refer to the glossary for the Economic definition of Food and Agri-Food sector for the relevant SIC codes.3. GB figures have more specific, divisional level data (3-digit SIC codes) to be able to specify employment within the food chain. Not available for Northern Ireland as it is not recorded in their equivalent survey: the Northern Ireland Quarterly Employment Survey (NISRA).

The Food and Drink sector in Great Britain (GB) employed 4.0 million people in 2023 (4.4 million if agriculture and fishing are included along with self-employed farmers), a 5.9% increase on a year earlier. The sector accounted for 12.1% of GB employment in 2022 (13.4% if agriculture and fishing are included along with self-employed farmers). Employment across the whole GB economy rose by 3% over the same period (based on the total industries estimate from the same JOBS03 spreadsheet that covers SIC 2007 section A-T).

In the twelve months to December 2023, employment in the agri-food sector increased by 5.0% or 210,000 jobs. Employment fell in 2023 in agriculture (including fishing, 2.0% or 9,000 jobs), but increased in non-residential catering (7.9% or 156,000 jobs), wholesale (12% or 25,000 jobs) and manufacturing (4.8% or 20,000 jobs).

Source: Labour Market Statistics- Employee jobs by industry (ONS) & June Survey structure statistics (Defra).

1.4 Number of UK food and drink manufacturers by business size in 2023

There were approximately 22,830 small and medium enterprises (including no employees, small and medium) in the food and drink manufacturing sector. SMEs accounted for 98.8% of businesses in food and drink manufacturing,

Notes: 1. The number of businesses were rounded in the data to avoid disclosure. 2. Businesses with no employees can either be ‘registered’ for either VAT or PAYE or are ‘unregistered’. A business may be VAT and/or PAYE registered and therefore appear on the government business register (the IDBR), or it may exist without being registered. Unregistered businesses are those businesses run by self-employed people that are not large enough to be VAT or PAYE registered and therefore will not appear on the IDBR.

Source: Business Population Estimates (BPE), DBT

1.5 GVA in the UK by food and drink manufacturing sector in 2022 (£ billion)

Accredited Official Statistic

Notes:1. For disclosure reasons some small contributions (less than 4% overall) to food and drink manufacturing GVA were treated as zeros.2. Other food products includes items such as prepared meals, confectionery, condiments and seasonings.

In terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), Beverages was the largest manufacturing category with a value of £7.8 billion in 2022 contributing 22.4% to the total food and drink manufacturing GVA. The ‘other food products’ category was the second largest with a value of £7.6 billion in the same year, contributing 21.8% to the total food and drink manufacturing GVA.

Oils and fats were the smallest manufacturing category with a GVA of £0.2 billion and contributed 0.5% to total food and drink manufacturing GVA.

Source: Annual Business Survey (ONS)

The combined grocery market share of the largest four food and drink retailers was 65.7% in July 2024. Tesco continued to have the largest market share at 27.7%. The three largest discounters (Aldi, Iceland and Lidl) had a combined market share of 20.4%.

Data was previously from Defra’s Family Food Report (a module of ONS’s Living Costs and Food Survey, however the data above is from Kantar Worldpanel. This source was also used in Defra’s Food Security Report 2021.

The market share estimates from Kantar are updated more regularly although not restricted to foods and not as representative.

Kantar Worldpanel is a market research company, providing up to date statistics on sales by the grocery sector. Market shares also include sales of non-food.

Source: Kantar

1.7 UK Consumer expenditure on food, drink and catering at current prices, 2003 to 2023

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Accredited Official Statistic

Notes:1. ‘Food’ includes non-alcoholic drinks’, ‘Drink’ is all alcoholic drinks.

After taking into account the effects of price rises (constant prices) consumers’ expenditure on food and alcoholic drinks decreased by 1.2% from £248.5bn in 2022 to £245.5bn in 2023 and was 14% higher than in 2013. Expenditure on food and drink eaten out increased by 0.6% from £116.9bn in 2022 to £117.6bn in 2023, whilst expenditure on household food decreased by 2.8% from £109.6bn to £106.5bn and expenditure on alcoholic drinks (off-licence only) decreased by 2.8% from £22.0bn to £21.3bn.

Source: Consumer trends, ONS & Chapter 14, Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Defra

2. Prices and Expenditure

2.1 UK trend in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices in real terms (CPIH), January 2000 to June 2024

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Accredited Official Statistic

Food and non-alcoholic beverage price inflation in real terms has decreased by 1.3% in the last 12 months, from June 2023 to June 2024.

Since 2000 food and non-alcoholic beverage prices (in real terms) have been at their lowest in 2006, before rising soon after and peaking in 2014. Over those 8 years real terms inflation rose by 19%. Real terms food prices returned to 2006 levels in 2016 and have remained quite stable until a sharp rise from 2022 onwards.

As this data is in real terms it reflects how food price inflation compares to overall inflation. If prices of other items have increased more than food and non-alcoholic beverages then real terms food and non-alcoholic beverage prices would show a decrease. A monthly timeseries for food and non-alcoholic beverage prices at current prices is published by ONS.

2.2 UK food and non-alcoholic beverage prices measured by CPIH since 2020

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The chart above shows that food price inflation is now less than overall inflation, having previously overtaken overall inflation during the previous 18 months.

Modelling commissioned by Defra shows that the five main drivers of food prices are farmgate prices, import prices, exchange rates, labour costs in food manufacturing and non-labour costs in food manufacturing (https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/128070)

Food price inflation had risen sharply over the last couple of years due to a combination of those factors - some of which were also exacerbated further by the conflict in Ukraine.

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) is the most comprehensive measure of inflation. It extends the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to include a measure of the costs associated with owning, maintaining and living in one’s own home, known as owner occupiers’ housing costs (OOH), along with Council Tax. Both are significant expenses for many households that are excluded from the CPI.

Source: Consumer Price Indices, (ONS)

Accredited Official Statistic

Notes:1. In 2015, the ONS shifted its measurements from annual to financial years (FYE 2016 value covers from April 2015 until March of 2016).

Source: ONS Family Spending in the UK

In FYE 2022, an average household spent 11.8% of their expenditure on household food and non-alcoholic drink in the UK, while for the lowest 20% of households by disposable equivalised income it was higher at 14.8%. In FYE 2021, these figures were higher for both groups, at 14.4% and 18.3% respectively. FYE 2022 saw them return to more normal proportions seen over the last 10 years.

The increase in FYE 2021 was due in part to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, with hospitality and leisure businesses temporarily closing, and travel restrictions imposed. This meant that with the proportion of peoples’ expenditure on these items reducing dramatically during lockdowns, the proportion spent on other categories, including household food, increased. In FYE 2022 the actual expenditure, by average households, on household food decreased slightly from FYE 2021, while total expenditure increased.

The relative affordability of food can be measured by the share of the household budget that is spent on it. Low income households tend to spend a higher than average proportion of their expenditure on essential categories such as food, housing and energy and a lower proportion of their expenditure on non-essential items.

Although the percentage of spend on food had been relatively constant, the actual amount spent, and the products purchased will change in response to relative prices.

2.4 Household income (after housing costs) and food prices in real terms (UK), 2020/21

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In 2020/21 weekly income after housing costs for low income (5th percentile) households rose by 9.1% while food prices in real terms decreased by 0.2%. 2020/21 saw the first year that weekly income had increased to above the level seen in 2002/03. Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices were at their lowest level in 2020/21 since 2007/08.

Income after housing costs rose by 1.1% between 2002/03 and 2020/21 while over the same time period food prices (in real terms) increased 2.9%.

In 2008/09 the income for low income households reached its lowest level, 16% below that of 2002/03, while in the same time food prices had increased by 6.1%.

Both the highest increase in food prices (5.3%) and the highest decrease in weekly income (7.4%) were seen in 2008/09.

In 2020/21, the 5th percentile of the income distribution (at 2020/21 prices) saw the highest increase of 9.1%, whereas the 95th percentile saw the largest decrease of 3.7%. All groups were above the 2002/03 level with the 20th percentile group seeing the highest increase since 2002/03 of 18.3% while the 5th percentile group saw the smallest increase at 1.1% over the same period.

Source: Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK, 2021; Institute for Fiscal Studies
Consumer Price Indices, (ONS)

2.5 UK consumer price changes by food group, June 2014 to June 2024

Accredited Official Statistic

All food and non-alcoholic beverage groups have risen in price since June 2014 with rises ranging from 11.9% to 71.7%. Milk, cheese and eggs, oils and fats, fruit, sugar, etc., food products (nec, i.e. not elsewhere classified), non-alcoholic beverages and mineral waters, etc. have all risen in price by 33% or more in the ten years since June 2014.

Source: Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) (ONS)

2.6 Value Sales of Organic Food and Drink, 2006-20

The Organic sector generated around £2.8 billion in UK value sales in 2020. This is an increase of 12.6% from the previous year. Despite consistent growth, this is the largest year on year increase in over a decade.

The Soil Association Certification referenced that the onset of the pandemic had potentially brought about a greater appreciation for food which coincided with the growth in organics sales. As people were at home more, this led to a greater number that began cooking from scratch, baking and growing their own food.

Box schemes were overwhelmed with interest from new customers and online subsequently became an even more significant channel for organic. Traffic to Soil Association Certification box scheme listings on their website increased by 900% in March and April 2020, compared with January and February of that year. This is likely due to reluctance from people to go to grocery stores in-person or even because of a lack of stocks on shelves due to supply issues over the first lockdown period.

Organic sales through farm shops benefited from more consumer interest in this channel. More than nine out of 10 farm shops (92%) reported a significant rise in new customers since COVID-19, according to the Farm Retail Association (FRA). Indeed, in July 2020, UK farm shops had processed around 1.4 million home delivery or collection orders since lockdown measures were introduced. Around £75 million of ‘Other Retail’ organic sales are estimated to be through farm shops.

Source: Soil Association Certification Organic Market Report 2021, Mintel and the FRA

3. Global and UK supply

3.1 Origins of food consumed in the UK, 2023

Notes:1. Based on the farm-gate value of raw food.2. Consumption of UK origin consists of UK domestic production minus UK exports.3. UK exports are given as a percentage of total UK consumption.

Supply includes domestic production plus imports and excludes exports of home production. Food security is enhanced by strong and consistent domestic production of food, combined with a diversity of supply sources, thereby avoiding overreliance on any one source^a.

In 2023, 58% of domestic consumption came from UK production (based on unprocessed value at farmgate), 24% from the EU and the remaining 18% from the rest of the world. 33 countries accounted for 90% of imported supply, and 22 for 80%. Some countries or regions are uniquely important to supply of particular products such as bananas from the Caribbean and Central America, reducing the security of this supply.

Source: Chapter 14, Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Defra

^a UK Food Security Report, 2021 (Defra).

3.2 UK Food production to supply ratio, 1956-2023

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The Food Production to Supply Ratio (commonly referred to as the “Self Sufficiency Ratio”), is calculated as the farmgate value of raw food production divided by the value of raw food for human consumption and is estimated to be 62% for all food in 2023 and 75% of indigenous type food. In 2022, this was 60% and 73% respectively.

Source: Chapter 14, Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Defra

3.3 Trends in UK food production and for all agricultural output, 2011 to 2022

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National Statistic

Notes:1. 2022 figures are provisional.

Final output^b of UK agriculture is a proxy for UK food production. The volume of all outputs remained the same between 2021 and 2022.

Total UK cereal production has fluctuated, with significant dips linked to adverse weather conditions in those years. However, the most recent dip in 2020 reflected the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic but there have been subsequent rises as we emerged from strict lockdown measures with a latest rise of 8% between 2021 and 2022.

Since 2011, production levels of poultry meat have been on a largely upward trend although the most recent year saw a fall of 2% in 2022 compared with 2021.

Red meat (includes Beef, Lamb and Pig meat) has seen a slight upward trend and is at its highest level in this period after increasing by another 1% from 2021 to 2022.

Source: Chapter 7, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra & Chapter 8, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra

^b Figure came from the total volume estimates from underlying dataset of the Agricultural TFP.

3.4 UK trade in different food groups, 2023

Notes:1. 2023 figures are provisional.

In 2023, the value of imports was greater than the value of exports in each of the broad categories of food, feed and drink except ‘Beverages’ which had a trade surplus of £822 million, largely due to exports of Scotch Whisky.Beverages are the largest export category by far with an export value of £8.5 bn in 2023, down by 8% on 2022.Cereals is the second largest export group with a value of £2.8 bn, followed by the dairy & eggs category at around £2.1 bn (excluding the miscellaneous category).‘Fruit and vegetables’ have the largest trade deficit. In 2023 imports were £13.2 bn while exports were worth £1.0 bn, giving a trade gap of £12.2 bn.The second largest groups in terms of imports in 2023 were meat and beverages with imports of £8.2 and £7.7 bn respectively.

Source: HMRC

3.5 Trend in exports of food, feed and drink at 2023 prices, 2000 to 2023

Notes:1. 2023 figures are provisional.2. Prices adjusted by ONS implied deflators.

In 2023, the value of food, feed and drink exports was £24.4bn, a decrease of 11% on 2022. In 2023 the value of food, feed and drink imports decreased by 8.8% to £61.1bn in real terms, resulting in the trade gap or trade deficit in food, feed and drink of £36.7bn in real terms, a decrease of 7.1% since 2022.

Source: HMRC

3.6 World agricultural commodity prices in $US/tonne, January 2006 to September 2023

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Notes:1. By indexing and having each plot on the same scale, this enables comparisons of the volatility between commodities.
Rice prices peaked in April 2008 due to a shortage, a weak US dollar and rising production costs. There was a seven-year period of lower prices between 2013 and 2020, but increased between November 2019 and June 2020, afterwards falling back to average levels. Most recent rise can be attributed to an El Niño weather event and India export restrictions.

Beef prices peaked in September 2014, having risen 50% over the previous year due to a shortage of cattle. They declined for six years before rising again.

Sugar prices peaked in 2011 then fell steeply until August 2015 due to oversupply and fluctuations in Brazilian and US currency. Prices recovered up to October 2016 but have fallen since then because of a glut in supply, this trend has reversed since 2020.

Palm oil prices fell steadily from the peak in 2011 partly due to competition from Soybeans and Sunflower oil until rallying in 2016. After falling steadily through 2017 and 2018 prices rose sharply at the end of 2019 and have continued rising. The highest peak at the start of 2022, was a result of the Ukraine war leading to a collapse in trade of cooking oils due to hostile international waters and sanctions but has fallen back as world supply chains have adjusted.

Wheat prices fell steadily from 2012 and then rallied in 2017 as global supplies dipped. Then began increasing due to increased demand post pandemic and not being able to rely on Ukraine which had been a major supplier to Europe. Prices have come down since as alternative suppliers have helped to fill this gap and some exports from the Ukraine have resumed after been facilitated by the UN.

Source: UNCTAD, ONS

3.7 World grains stocks to consumption ratio to 2020-21

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Stocks to consumption ratios^c are an indicator of global resilience to food shortages and price stability. With low stocks, markets become sensitive to further supply shortfalls, which magnifies the price response.

Wheat and Coarse Grain stocks had been on a rising trend in recent years, starting with the 2012-13 crop year and Coarse grain stocks have been falling since 2016-17^b.

Rice stocks have been on an upward trend since the 2006/07 harvest.

Rice consumption (the denominator) is also on a gradually rising trend, increasing by 4% since crop year 2014-15.

Source: International Grains Council (IGC), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

^c From August 2013, Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD) numbers for “European Union” reflect the addition of Croatia to the former EU-27. Croatia data no longer exists in the PSD after 1998/99; therefore, comparisons to data, including World Totals, will differ from those published prior to July 2013.

^d USDA projections.

4. Food Security Report

The United Kingdom Food Security Report sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years. The UKFSR examines past, current, and predicted trends relevant to food security to present the best available understanding of food security at the time of publication.

The first UKFSR was published in December 2021, and the next report is due to be published at the end of 2024. Below is a selection of indicators from the UKFSR which will be updated here more regularly. There are also other food security related indicators in previous chapters of the Food Statistics Pocketbook such as UK food production to supply ratio.

4.1 Meat production tonnes global, 1961-2021

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Poultry has recently overtaken pig meat as having the highest production of any meat globally. There has been a recent loss of production in pig meat due to African Swine fever.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

4.2 Origins of fresh vegetables consumed in the UK, 2023

53% of fresh vegetables consumed in the UK were produced domestically in 2023. 92% of domestic consumption of fresh vegetables was fulfilled by domestic and EU production in 2023, reflecting the importance of geographical proximity for importing fresh produce.

Source: Chapter 7, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra

Dataset: AUK Table 7.8

4.3 Origins of fresh fruit consumed in the UK, 2023

The origin of fresh fruit consumed in the UK is more diverse than it is for vegetables, with only 16% by volume produced domestically whereas 27% and 58% is sourced from the EU and the Rest of the World respectively in 2023.

This reflects UK consumer demand for tropical and out-of-season fruit which cannot be sourced domestically or from Europe.

Source: Chapter 7, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra

Dataset: AUK Table 7.11

4.4 Energy demand by energy type in the food and drink manufacturing sector, 2022

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Accredited Official Statistic

Overall total demand for energy by the food and drink manufacturing sector has remained stable in the last 20 years. In 2022, natural gas met 59% of energy needs (1603 thousand tonnes oil equivalent) followed by electricity at 35% (959 thousand tonnes oil equivalent), petroleum products at 5% (136 thousand tonnes oil equivalent) and coal at 1% (37 thousand tonnes oil equivalent).

UKFSR Indicator 3.1.2 Energy dependency in the food sector, Figure 3.1.2b

Sources: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, DBT

4.5 Household food security status by country/region, FYE 2022

Accredited Official Statistic

Scotland and Wales had the highest levels of food insecurity, with 8% of households being food insecure in the financial year ending 2022. Northern Ireland had the lowest level with only 5% of households being food insecure.

Within England there were regional differences in household food security levels in financial year ending 2022. The East, South West and London all had the lowest levels of food insecurity with 5% of households being food insecure. The North East and the West Midlands had the highest levels of food insecurity, at 10% and 9% respectively.

UKFSR Indicator 4.1.4 Household food security, Figure 4.1.4a

Source: Family Resources Survey, DWP

Most respondents in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (72%) had no concerns about the food they eat. However, in a separate question, respondents were asked to indicate if they had concerns about several food-related issues from a list of given options. The most common concerns amongst consumers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland were food prices (72%), food waste (58%), the amount of food packaging, the quality of food and the amount of sugar in food (all 56%).

Food prices did not feature in the list of concerns in Wave 3 of this survey (April 2021 to June 2021). However, it has since risen to the top in the face of much higher food inflation rates (see Figure 2.1. Food packaging did not feature in the top ten list of concerns in Wave 5 of the report but now features at joint 3rd.

Source: Food and You: Wave 7, FSA

Glossary

Economic definition of food and agri-food sector

The UK food sector is defined as food manufacturing, food wholesale, food retail and non- residential catering. In terms of the standard industrial classification (SIC 2007) it is defined as:

• In SIC2007 the food manufacturing sector comprises of nine main categories including processing and preserving meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables, oils, bread, biscuits and cakes, and confectionery. Animal feed manufacturing is included, covering both farm animal feed and pet food, and representing 7.5% of total turnover in food and drink manufacturing in 2020. The drink manufacturing sector includes alcoholic beverages and soft drinks and mineral waters.

• Food and drink wholesale consists of the buying, storage and reselling of food either manufactured or freshly produced. Wholesale of tobacco products (46.35) is not included, but SIC code 46.17 "Agents involved in the sale of food, beverages and tobacco" is included. This group includes wholesalers that trade on behalf of others on a fee or contract basis and their turnover was 5% of that of 46.3 "wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco" in 2020.

• Food and drink retail is defined as the sale of food within both non-specialised stores (e.g. supermarkets), 47.11, and specialised stores such as butchers and bakers, 47.11 and 47.81. The sale of tobacco products value is subtracted from the specialised stores value using 47.26 and then subsequently subtracted from the non-specialised stores value using a ratio for food and drink.

• Non-residential catering (NRC) consists of restaurants and bars involved in preparation and serving of food, alongside canteens and catering services. Hotels are not included.

The deductions are to remove non-food items as far as possible.

The agri-food sector is the food sector plus agriculture and fishing. Agriculture and fishing are shown in several charts for comparison.

Sectoral breakdown of Food Manufacturing

Gross Value Added (GVA)

GVA is the difference between output and intermediate consumption for any given sector / industry. This is the difference between the value of goods and services produced and the cost of raw materials and other inputs which are used up in production.

Total Factor Productivity (TFP)

Productivity measures the efficiency at which inputs are converted into outputs. Total Factor Productivity provides a comprehensive picture of growth.

Equivalised income

The income a household needs to attain a given standard of living will depend on its size and composition. Equivalisation is a means of adjusting a household’s income for size and composition so that the incomes of all households are on a comparable basis.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Outside of these statistics, the definition of a SME can depend upon several factors, including turnover. For these statistics, a ‘small’ business is a private sector business with fewer than 50 employees. A ‘medium’ business is a private sector business with between 50 and 249 employees. Businesses with no employees are also included separately and come under SMEs.

Standard Industry Classification codes (SIC codes)

These are numerical codes that categorise the industries that companies belong to based on their business activities.

Associated data for the Food statistics Pocketbook can be downloaded here