Never mind house prices... Freddo bars are up 200%!

IF you feel that power bills, house prices and even the cost of a loaf have rocketed, spare a thought for the nation’s children.

A study of price rises since the year 2000 shows that the item that has gone up most in percentage terms is the Freddo bar.

The frog-shaped Cadbury chocolate bar was 10p 18 years ago. Last month it went up from 25p to 30p – or 200 per cent since the turn of the millennium.

Many chocolate bars and other products have been shrunk in size since the year 2000 – imposing hidden price rises on consumers who get less content for the same money.

But because the Freddo bar has always been small, weighing 18g, Cadbury has not had scope to shrink it in the same way.

The study has been charted by the price comparison website Money Supermarket, which used data from the Bank of England to show how a range of goods and services have risen since 2000. It found the average increase was some 65 per cent over the past 18 years, far outpacing an increase in the average annual salary of 24 per cent from £23,000 to £28,600.

The research shows the property sector has seen dramatic rises with the average house price up by 131.6 per cent from £97,600 to £226,071. The average domestic electricity bill has risen 132.78 per cent to £554, with gas up 84.74 per cent to £569. The cost of a food shop – per person, per week – has risen by 54.4 per cent, from £23.97 to £37. A loaf of bread has more than doubled from 52p to £1.07.

Social activities haven’t escaped either. Buying a cinema ticket has jumped 70.23 per cent from £4.40 to an average of £7.49. And the average price of a pint has also more than doubled to £3.60.

Sally Francis-Miles of MoneySupermarket said: ‘At the turn of the millennium a £10 note would easily stretch to cover a few drinks and a couple of loaves of bread, with change left over for a chocolate bar. Today, you’d struggle to cover one round in your local pub.

‘Those paying utility bills are the real inflation sufferers here, seeing prices skyrocket over 18 years. With inflation shooting up and wages remaining relatively stagnant, it’s no wonder families are feeling more squeezed than ever.’