UK Spending & Inflation Analysis 2022-2023

UK Cost of Living Statistics in 2024

• Total household expenditure in the third quarter of 2023 was approximately £399 billion.
• UK inflation was 4.2% as of December 2023, exceeding the Bank of England's 2% target.
• Alcohol and tobacco contributed most to monthly CPIH and CPI increases, while food and non-alcoholic beverages had the largest downward contribution.
• Household electricity spending in England and Wales decreased by around £1.3 billion in 2023 compared to 2022.
• Annual UK rental price growth was +9.7% in December 2023.
• The average UK adult has about £4,123 in unsecured personal debt.
• Average UK student living costs increased by 14% in the year prior to the 2022 Student Money Survey, with students spending £924 monthly.
• A typical UK retiree needs to earn at least £12,800 annually for a minimum standard of living.
• Household spending in December 2023 increased by 0.4% from November 2023 and 4.2% from December 2022.
• Spending on housing accounted for £99 billion (25%) and transport for nearly £57 billion (14%) of the total household expenditure in Q3 2023.
• Total domestic expenditure by UK households was near £1.5 trillion in 2022, over £160 billion higher than in 2021.
• Spending for the first three quarters of 2023 was around £90 billion more than in the same period of 2022.
• Housing accounted for 27% of spending in 2022, totaling over £393.4 billion, followed by transport (£191 billion) and recreation/culture (£144 billion).
• Health (£29.9 billion) and communication (£27.3 billion) contributed the least to total UK domestic expenditure in 2022.
• London residents are expected to spend about £411 more per month on living costs in 2024 compared to 2022, while those in the North East will spend about £291 more.
• Household living expenses are expected to rise by roughly the same percentage across the UK (18-19%) between 2022 and 2024, with the South East slightly lower at 17.98%.
• London and the South East experienced the largest monetary increase in weekly household living costs, exceeding £96.
• Transport costs increased the most in the South East (over £9.40 per week), followed by the East of England and East Midlands (just under/over £9 per week).
• Food and non-alcoholic drink costs rose by at least £24 per week in London, the South East, and Northern Ireland.
• Housing, fuel, and power costs increased the most in London, rising by over £25 a week on average.
• UK residents earning over £69,000 annually might see a £120 increase in monthly household expenses in 2024.
• Those earning under £19,200 annually could see a rise of about £78 a week.
• All income groups are estimated to see proportionally increased monthly living costs between 17.9% and 18.6%.
• Those earning more than £69,000 are predicted to experience the highest increase in monthly living costs, at just under 18.6%.
• Individuals earning between £19,200 and £31,400 annually are expected to see a rise of over £73 a week in living expenses, with almost £22 a week extra on food/drink and over £18 on housing, fuel, and power.
• For those earning between £31,400 and £46,000 annually, the biggest proportional change in weekly spending is also predicted to come from food and housing (just under £22 and £17 extra, respectively).
• Transport costs may increase by an extra £8.07 a week for middle-income earners, and £6.07 a week for those earning £19,200 or less.
• Those aged 75 and over could be most affected by the rising cost of living, potentially seeing an 18.64% rise in household living costs between 2022 and 2024.
• Those aged 30-49 are expected to spend just over £93 more each week on household costs in 2024 than in 2022, while those aged 75 and over could see costs rise by over £55 a week.
• Housing, fuel, and power expenses for those under 30 years may increase by an average of £24.52, compared to £9.75 a week for those aged 75 and over.
• Food and non-alcoholic drinks are expected to rise, ranging from as low as £15 for the under 30s to as high as £23.53 for those aged 30-49.
• Consumer prices were 4.2% higher in December 2023 than the previous year.
• The ONS estimated food price inflation at 8% as of December 2023, marking the 29th consecutive month of rising food prices.
• Food inflation reached 19.2% in March 2023, the highest rate since 1977.
• The price of a 1-litre bottle of vegetable oil increased by over 65% between September 2021 and September 2022, the highest increase of any UK food item.
• Pasta and tea saw price hikes of nearly 60% and 46%, respectively.
• Frozen vegetables, chips, bread, and milk experienced rises of between 20%-40%.
• Rice and granulated sugar both experienced price changes of less than 1%.
• Orange fruit juice saw the greatest decline, falling by nearly 9%, followed by beef mince (-7.4%) and rice (-0.2%) between September 2021 and September 2022.
• The UK ranked as the 22nd most expensive country in the world for food shopping in 2022, with the average food cost per week just shy of £14 per person.
• In July 2023, food and non-alcoholic beverages were expected to see the biggest price rise, costing more than 8% more compared to January.
• Restaurant and hotel-related items were expected to see a price rise of 7.16%.
• Food and non-alcoholic beverages saw the largest percentage price increase of all categories in 2022 (+16.8%), followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+11.8%).
• Throughout 2022, communications had the smallest growth (2.3%), and this was forecast to remain low up until July 2023 (2.17%), although not as low as health or education costs.
• Passenger transport by air was forecast to have the largest percentage price change in the first seven months of 2023, costing almost 60% more in July 2023 compared to six months earlier.
• Gas prices saw an increase of somewhere between 129% and 133% in January 2023 compared to 12 months earlier.
• Equipment for reception, recording, and reproduction of sound and vision saw the largest drop in cost (almost -9%) throughout 2022.
• Oil prices peaked at $120.67 in June 2022, amid uncertainty surrounding the war in Ukraine, before falling in the subsequent months.
• As of January 2024, peak oil prices stood at £79.29 – around $9 lower than they were the month before Russia invaded Ukraine.
• The amount of gas it takes to heat and run a purpose-built flat over 12 months is 40% lower than a converted flat.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all domestic fuels decreased by 2.8% in Q3 2023, compared to Q3 2022.
• Average domestic energy bills for 2023 were estimated to be £2,592, a 13% (£298) increase on the previous year.
• The average UK electricity bill was predicted to increase by 9% to £1,264 over this period, with gas bills incurring a 17% rise from £1,134 to £1,328.
• The mid-month average retail price of unleaded petrol in December 2023 was 142.31p per litre, 2.2% lower than in mid-December 2022.
• Electricity spending fell by about £1.3 billion (-11%) in 2022 compared to 2021.
• The average electricity bill was expected to be £1,264 in 2023, a rise of around 9% (£104) from 2022.
• Households in England and Wales paid around 11% less on average on their electricity bills in 2023 compared with the previous year, with those in Scotland paying roughly 9% less.
• Average electricity bills in Northern Ireland increased by 9% from £1,012 a year to £1,103, between 2022 and 2023.
• UK households spent, on average, in excess of £172 a year on fixed-cost electricity bills in 2023, a rise of around a fifth (22%) from 2022.
• The average variable rate for those paying by standard credit, direct debit, and prepayment methods fell somewhere between £0.28/kWh and £0.35p/Kwh for all regions.
• The average UK gas bill for domestic use was £1,328 in 2023, a 17% rise on the average from the previous year.
• Across all payment types in England and Wales, the average gas bill for 2023 was £1,328, an increase of more than 17% from the previous year.
• British households spent, on average, £107.41 a year on fixed costs on their gas bills in 2023, representing a rise of just over 2% from 2022.
• In 2022, an estimated 600,000 people were forced onto a prepayment meter because they could not afford their energy bills, a rise of 220,000 from the previous year.
• As of 2021, around 2.6 million UK households were using combined prepaid energy meters for their electricity.
• Figures for gas-only prepaid meters were around 25% less than electricity meters, with just under 2 million households using this variant.
• Electricity only meters were also the most common type of pre-paid meter amongst those receiving disability benefits.
• A price cap halts excessive profits by energy companies, ensuring fair consumer energy prices.
• From April 2022, energy companies could pass additional source-related gas costs to UK customers.
• Between 2021 and 2022, 29 energy companies exited or went into administration due to global gas price increases, affecting about 4.3 million UK customers.
• In February 2022, Ofgem raised the UK energy price cap from £1,064 to £1,971 for typical annual consumption, a 54% increase starting April 1, 2022.
• The government limited the UK energy price cap to £2,500 for a typical household from October 2022.
• The energy price cap peaked at £4,279 in January 2023, before falling throughout the rest of 2023
• From 1 January 2024, the equivalent per unit level of the price cap is 28.62p per kWh for electricity and 7.42p per kWh for gas for the average customers paying by direct debit.
• Those on default tariffs paying by direct debit could see an increase of almost £94, from £1,834 to £1,928 a year (January-March 2023).
• Prepayment customers may experience a rise of £99, from £1,861 to £1,960 (January-March 2023).
• Customers who pay by standard credit could pay an additional £130 more than those paying by direct debit due to the higher admin costs involved in supplying them (January-March 2023).
• As of 2023, Portsmouth Water supplied the cheapest average UK water bill at £109 a year.
• Estimates for 2023 and 2024 place Wessex Water as the most expensive water provider in the UK, with an average annual water bill of £261.
• Average UK house prices decreased by 2.1% over the year to November 2023, with the average UK house price at £285,000.
• London remains the most expensive area to purchase a property, with the average price exceeding £505,000.
• The North East was the most affordable part of England, with prices typically under £160,000.
• The region with the largest fall in average UK house prices since November 2022 was London (-6%).
• As of January 2024, Rightmove reported that the average price of new properties coming to the UK housing market was around £359,748 (a 1.3% rise on the previous month).
• In November 2023, the average English property decreased in value to £301,613 (-2.9% compared to November 2022).
• Terraced properties in the UK saw the largest percentage decrease in their average price, dropping more than £9,000 in November 2023.
• UK mortgage arrears statistics from UK Finance estimated that 630 homeowner properties were taken into possession in Q3 2023.
• At the end of October 2023, total mortgage debt stood at more than £1.63 trillion.
• Rental growth in the UK stood at 9.7% a year (as of December 2023).
• Compared to the UK's five-year average, UK rental market statistics indicate that demand for rental properties was down 11% in December 2023 from the previous year.
• The ONS rental index reflects growth across all rental homes and is 6.2% more expensive in December 2023 compared to 12 months earlier.
• Those moving to a newly rented property will find the rising cost of renting 8.3% higher than a year ago according to Rightmove.
• Private rental prices in the UK were 6.2% higher in December 2023 compared to the same time in 2022.
• In 2023, London remained the most expensive place to rent in the UK, with average monthly costs of £2,125.
• For a typical Band D property, the average UK council tax statistics showed that the cost for a typical Band D property was £1,996 in 2022-23 and £2,065 in 2023-24.
• The two cheapest areas for UK council tax in 2023 and 2024 can both be found in London (Westminster, Wandsworth).
• The City of London offers the least support per person regarding council tax, at just £0.79.
• Liverpool council offers the most support per person across their county, at £28.45 per head.
• Wokingham, based in the county of Berkshire, offers the least council support for residents at £6.50 per head.
• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation indicates that a single person in the UK in 2023 needed to earn at least £29,500 to reach a minimum, acceptable standard of living.
• As a single person living in the UK outside of London and Scotland, you will need to earn around £29,541 a year to have a comfortable standard of living.
• A single parent, under the age of 65, living in inner London with a child under the age of one, would need to exceed £63,498 annually to live comfortably.
• Statistics suggest that annual take home for a minimum standard of living once retired needs to be at least £12,800 a year for a single person in the UK.
• At the end of November 2023, people in the UK collectively owed more than £1.847 trillion.
• Dealing with debt can be a daunting task and statistics highlight varying personal debt amounts across the country.
• At the end of November 2023, outstanding consumer credit lending was more than £221 billion.
• Between August and October 2022, 279 people a day across England and Wales were declared either insolvent or bankrupt.
• The UK employment rate as a percentage of the UK population stands at 75.5% in Q2 2023.
• The UK's unemployment rate was 4.3% in Q2 2023.
• England's overall employment rate surpassed the UK average of 75.5%, with 75.8% of working-age people employed in the period from May to July 2023.
• Scotland has an employment rate of 75.1%, Wales has an employment rate of 74%, whereas Northern Ireland has the lowest rate, at 71.1%.
• In London, the employment rate stands at 73.5%, the lowest of any region or nation across the UK.
• Falling petrol prices have largely contributed to pushing the UK's inflation rate back below 5% in December 2023.
• The annual inflation rate for motor fuels fell to -10.8% in the year to December 2023.
• The average price increase was 8% for all UK food items in the year to December 2023.
• The annual inflation rate for clothing and footwear stood at 6.4% in December 2023.
• The UK current rate of inflation stands at 4.2%, recorded in December 2023.
• Core inflation stood at 5.25% in December 2023.
• The UK CPI inflation rate also reached its peak in October 2022 at 11.1%, but this figure has reduced consistently, reaching 4% in December 2023.
• In December 2023, the UK CPI inflation rate stood at 132.2.

Analysis of UK spending habits, inflation rate and price changes between 2022 and 2023. Examines the CPI for domestic fuels and total household expenditure, focusing on categories with the most significant increases or decreases. It also considers economic factors affecting price fluctuations.