Families ‘struggling’ as food costs hit record 13-year high

A FIFTH of households have said they are “struggling” to make ends meet as grocery prices surge at the fastest rate since 2009 and recession fears mount.

Food inflation was up 7pc in the past four weeks compared with a year ago, leaving people increasingly concerned about the cost of their weekly shop.

A jump in food, fuel and energy bills, partly owing to the war in Ukraine, has been weighing on household finances.

A total of 22pc of households said they were struggling, according to data firm Kantar. The rising price of groceries was the second most important issue after costs of energy bills, it said.

Meanwhile, a Yougov poll showed 44pc of people are buying fewer clothes and 39pc are eating out less.

The price of petrol hit a new record high on Monday. The average price of a litre of petrol at the pump was 169.61p, while diesel was 181.37p.

Fraser Mckevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “People are really feeling the squeeze at the supermarket tills and they’re having to stretch their budgets further to accommodate rising prices.” It comes as recession fears mount after business growth slowed almost to a halt this month as companies faced record rises in their costs, and passed those on in unprecedented price hikes for customers.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global, said it shows “the economy almost grinding to a halt”. Prices are going up fastest for products including dog food, savoury snacks and fresh beef. The cost of a family fry-up has risen by 40p since last year, costing £6.83.

John Allan, chairman of Tesco, warned earlier this month that the country was facing “real food poverty for the first time in a generation”.