Inflation: Food prices continue to jump causing ‘agony’ for UK shoppers

Food prices have slowed down but that will be of little relief for UK households as inflation remains high.

Bread and cereal prices rose by 17.7%, while meat cost 16.3% more than in May 2022 and the price of fish jumped 16.6%.

Whole milk prices jumped by 20.5%, while olive oil cost 46.9% more than last year. Meanwhile, eggs rose 28.8% and vegetable prices rose 19.8%. Fruit was 11.2% more expensive.

Food price inflation, which is the rate at which prices for groceries have risen compared to the year before, was 18.4% in May, down slightly from 19% in April.

Read more: Inflation stuck at 8.7% as cost of living squeeze continues

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said while food price inflation had eased, it was still at a level that "causes agony at the tills".

"Costs have risen so far and so fast that we're not going to see prices drop back to the level we were used to. In many cases we won't actually see them fall at all: they'll just get more expensive at a slower rate," she said.

Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at BestInvest, pointed to the “alarmingly high” food bills households are having to pay, noting that the easing of food inflation “will be little comfort for consumers who are still seeing the price of their supermarket shop jump week by week”.

Kevin Bright, global leader of consumer pricing practice at McKinsey & Company, said: “Grocery prices continue to see large year over year price rises at 18.7% – driven by commodities such as sugar (49.8%), milk, cheese, and eggs (27.4%) and oils and fats (22.6%), flour and other cereals (23.6%). These prices are still the highest rates we’ve seen in the last decade.”

Read more: Bank of England likely to raise interest rates to 5% after inflation shock

Inflation is the increase in the price of something over time. If a bottle of milk costs £1 but £1.05 a year later, then annual milk inflation is 5%.

Here is how much food prices have risen over the 12 months to May:

Food and non-alcoholic beverages – overall 18.4%

Bread and cereals - 17.7%

Rice - 16.1%

Flours and other cereals - 23.6%

Bread - 15.3%

Other bakery products - 21.9%

Pizza and quiche - 9.4%

Pasta products and couscous - 28.5%

Breakfast cereals and other cereal products - 12.3%

Meat - 16.3%

Beef and veal - 15.3%

Pork - 26.5%

Lamb and goat - 7.5%

Poultry - 14%

Edible offal - 28.2%

Dried, salted or smoked meat - 16.8%

Other meat preparations - 18.6%

Fish - 16.6%

Fresh or chilled fish - 21.4%

Frozen seafood - 8.2%

Other preserved or processed fish and seafood based preps - 18.4%

Milk, cheese and eggs - 27.4%

Milk, whole - 20.5%

Milk, low fat - 28.5%

Yoghurt - 23.4%

Cheese and curd - 33.4%

Other milk products - 21.3%

Eggs - 28.8%

Oils and fats - 22.6%

Butter - 14.1%

Margarine and other vegetable fats - 15.2%

Olive oil - 46.9%

Fruit - 11.2%

Fresh or chilled fruit - 11.3%

Dried fruit and nuts - 10.3%

Preserved fruit and fruit-based products - 12.7%

Vegetables including potatoes and tubers - 19.8%

Fresh or chilled vegetables other than potatoes - 20.7%

Frozen vegetables other than potatoes and other tubers - 31.4%

Dried vegetables, other preserved or processed vegetables - 18.6%

Potatoes - 22.4%

Crisps - 17.8%

Other tubers and products of tuber vegetables - 3.4%

Sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate and confectionery - 16.4%

Sugar - 49.8%

Jams, marmalades and honey - 22.9%

Chocolate - 11.7%

Confectionery products - 15.3%

Edible ices and ice cream - 20.8%

Sauces, condiments, salt , spices and culinary herbs - 35.1%

Ready-made meals - 16.8%

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