2019 Average Grocery Cost for Family of 4

According to information from the Office of National Statistics, the average U.k. household spends £3,312 on groceries and £ane,716 on restaurants and takeaways every year. As a result, in 2019 UK households spent sixteen% of their budgets on food and non-alcoholic drinks. Another 3% of budgets went to booze, which y'all can read more than nearly in our related article Average Spending on Booze in the Great britain.

In this report we'll show the breakdown of household home food budgets per week and per month across food categories, typical amounts spent eating out and finally how food & drink budgets change with income levels and family sizes. Food prices in the UK rose again concluding year, making this an important budget category.

Please note that these figures reflect average amounts actually spent according to the ONS survey, they are not recommendations nearly how much you should spend. Nutrient spending varies a LOT from one household to another based on factors like income, size and makeup of the household, the food y'all buy and other factors. You can become a sense of this by viewing the poll results further downwardly in the article.

• Food prices are rising, but by how much?
• How much exercise households spend on nutrient?
  • Boilerplate weekly food bill
  • NEW POLL: How much practice y'all spend on nutrient each week?
  • Average monthly food pecker
  • FAQs
• Grocery spending
• Restaurant and takeaway spending
• How is food spending different by income level?

Ascent in Nutrient Prices

Before we dig into the boilerplate spending on nutrient in the following sections, we want to take a moment to address the recent ascension in food prices because many households are feeling the pinch and facing larger food bills each week.

We've analysed recent data from the Office for National Statistics and plant that food prices rose 4.5% in the 12 months from January 2021 to January 2022. Oils and fats rose the near, upwardly a whopping 15.nine%, followed by fruit (+6.9%) and milk, cheese and eggs (+5.vii%). You can see more detail in the table below. Fresh, seasonal foods are by and large upwards more than processed foods, which is perhaps not a surprise given supply chain issues could bear on fresh nutrient transport more.

And if you lot'd like even more detail (e.thousand. cost rises for individual items similar flour, instant coffee, tomatoes, beef roasting joints, roasting chickens, etc.) please let u.s. know in the comments department at the bottom and we can add those to the tabular array as well. We're wary of adding too much detail, but it can be useful to know that tomatoes and instant coffee are up 10.5% in the past 12 months alone, for instance.

Rising in Food Prices (% alter over 12 months)		January 2021 to January 2022
Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages		4.iv%
Food		four.5%
	Oils & fats	15.nine%
	Fruit	6.nine%
	Milk, cheese and eggs	5.seven%
	Seasonal food	v.3%
	Non-processed food	iv.seven%
	Vegetables (including potatoes and tubers)	4.v%
	Processed nutrient & non-alcoholic beverages	4.0%
	Meat	three.nine%
	Staff of life & cereals	3.half-dozen%
	Fish	2.9%
	Saccharide, jam, syrups, chocolate and confectionery	ii.2%
Non-alcoholic Beverages		3.2%
	Coffee, tea & cocoa	iv.9%
	Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	3.three%
	Mineral waters, soft drinks and juices	2.v%
Alcoholic Beverages		one.4%
	Wine	ii.9%
	Spirits	0.2%
	Beer	0.2%

Boilerplate Food Costs

The average almanac food cost for a typical UK household was around £5,028 in 2020 (based on the average 2.iv people per household), including £276 spent on not-alcoholic drinks. The average weekly nutrient price for the typical Britain household is £97, upwards around 3% from 2019. (Note: for the purposes of this article, "food" includes not-alcoholic drinks just not alcoholic drinks.) Nutrient cost as a percentage of the boilerplate Uk household budget has remained steady for over fifteen years.

On average, we spend about 2 thirds of our food budget on meals and snacks prepared and eaten at abode, and nosotros spend ane third of our food costs on eating out. That is, households spend on average £three,312 a twelvemonth on nutrient for home (well-nigh the aforementioned equally the toll to run a auto) and £1,716 on takeaways, restaurants, cafés, snacks, etc.

Average UK Food Spend, Almanac and Weekly

		Per Person^	Per Household (avg. two.4 people)
Weekly	Nutrient at Home	£26.5	£64
	Nutrient Out (e.one thousand., restaurants, have away, etc.)	£13.8	£33
	Total	£40.iii	£97
Per Twelvemonth	Nutrient at Home	£1,380	£iii,312
	Food Out (due east.g., restaurants, take away, etc.)	£715	£1,716
	Full	£2,095	£5,028

^ Note, the 'per person' figure is averaged over men, women and children of all ages. Obviously, caloric needs vary. For example, a young, active man would have much higher caloric needs and would therefore spend more on food than, say, a typical woman or kid. Run across more than detail on foods costs by gender and age below.

How Much we Spend per Year on Food at Dwelling vs. Outside the Abode

If you're wondering how much households like yours spend on nutrient each week or month, beneath we break down weekly and monthly food bills for households of unlike sizes, based on expected caloric needs of different ages and genders.

Average Food Costs per Calendar week

• Per Person: The boilerplate weekly food store is £26.v per person in the UK—merely clearly caloric needs vary by historic period and gender. When you add £13.viii spent on food prepared out (e.g., restaurants and takeaways), the average weekly food bill for ane person is £forty.iii.
• Average Developed Man: The average adult male spends around £32 on groceries, £17 on food out and £49 altogether on nutrient each calendar week.
• Immature, active adult man: A young, agile adult man around 18 years of historic period whose caloric needs are 50% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £lx a week on food (£xl οn groceries and £21 out).
• Average Developed Woman: The average adult female person theoretically spends effectually £25 on groceries, £13 on food out and £37 altogether on food each week.
• Young, active adult woman: A young, active adult woman around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 13% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £46 a week on food (£30 οn groceries and £16 out).
• ii Adults: The average weekly food bill for two adults would be effectually £86 in total—£57 spent on the weekly food shop and £29 spent on nutrient out.
• Family unit of iii: The average weekly nutrient pecker for a family unit of iii (ii adults and one younger kid) is effectually £119—£78 spent on the weekly food shop and £41 spent on food out.
• Family unit of iv: The typical family of four (two adults and 2 younger children) would spend effectually £151 each week on nutrient—£99 on the weekly store and £52 on eating place and takeaway meals.
• Family of 5: Larger families of v (ii adults and iii younger children) spend effectually £121 on the weekly shop and another £63 on food prepared out, bringing the total average nutrient bill for a family of 5 to £183.
• Family of 3 adults: Iii adults (or two adults and one older teenager) would spend effectually £85 on groceries, £44 on food prepared out and £129 altogether on food each week, conspicuously with budget varying by the age and gender of the family members.

Average Cost of Food per Week	Grocery Shopping	Eating Nutrient Prepared Out	Total Food Nib
Per Person	£26.five	£13.8	£twoscore.3
Young, active adult male	£39.8	£20.half dozen	£60.4
Average adult male	£32.3	£16.7	£49.0
Young, active adult female	£30.1	£xv.v	£45.half-dozen
Average adult female	£24.6	£12.7	£37.3
Average child	£21.3	£11.0	£32.3
2 adults (1 man + ane woman)	£56.8	£29.four	£86.3
ii adults + i child	£78.1	£40.v	£118.vi
ii adults + ii children	£99.4	£51.five	£150.9
2 adults + three children	£120.7	£62.5	£183.3
iii adults	£85.iii	£44.2	£129.4

Boilerplate Food Cost per Calendar week UK

Poll: How Much exercise You Spend on Nutrient Each Week?

Participate in our poll and then we tin encounter how much people actually spend on nutrient and drink each week. Requite us your best guess as to the average per person weekly nutrient spending in your household, based on your food budget (include both groceries, take aways and meals out). Once you enter your respond the results volition show so you can compare your spending to what other people take said they spend on food.

Average Nutrient Costs per Calendar month

• Per Person: The average monthly food budget in the UK is £175 per person, of which £115 is spent on grocery shopping and £60 on food prepared out, such every bit takeaways and restaurant meals.
• Average Adult Man: The boilerplate adult male would spend effectually £140 on groceries, £72 on food out and £212 birthday on nutrient each month.
• Young, active developed man: A immature, active adult homo around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 50% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £262 a month on food (£173 οn groceries and £89 out).
• Average Adult Woman: The average adult female would spend around £107 on groceries, £55 on nutrient out and £162 altogether on food each month.
• Young, agile adult woman: A young, active adult woman around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 13% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £198 a calendar month on food (£130 οn groceries and £67 out).
• 2 Adults: The total nutrient budget for 2 adults in the Uk is twice this, or £374 per month—£246 on groceries and £128 on eating out.
• Family of 3 The boilerplate food beak for a family of iii (with two adults and one younger kid) in the Britain is effectually £514 per month—£339 of which is spent grocery shopping and £175 on takeaways and restaurants, and other eating out.
• Family of 4: The average Great britain family of iv (two adults and two younger children) spends £654 in total on food each calendar month—£431 on grocery shopping bills and another £223 on food out.
• Family of 5: Larger families of five (2 adults and three younger children) spend around £523 a month on groceries and another £271 on food prepared out, bringing the total boilerplate food beak for a family of 5 to around £794.
• Family of iii adults: Three adults (or 2 adults and an older teenage child) would spend around £369 on groceries, £191 on food prepared out and £561 birthday on food each month, clearly with budget varying by the age and gender of the family members.

Delight keep in mind these are theoretical figures base on expected caloric intake, using boilerplate per person figures equally a starting betoken. We provide them to give a rough idea of what people typically spend. Your budget might (need to) be different.

Boilerplate Cost of Food per Calendar month	Grocery Shopping	Eating Food Prepared Out	Full Food Bill
Per Person	£115	£threescore	£175
Young, active adult male	£173	£89	£262
Boilerplate developed male	£140	£72	£212
Young, agile developed female	£130	£67	£198
Boilerplate adult female	£107	£55	£162
Average child	£92	£48	£140
ii adults (1 man + ane adult female)	£246	£128	£374
ii adults + one child	£339	£175	£514
2 adults + 2 children	£431	£223	£654
2 adults + iii children	£523	£271	£794
3 adults	£369	£191	£561

Average Nutrient Cost per Month UK

FAQs

When deciding how much you lot should spend on nutrient, it tin can help to know that a person'southward average spend on nutrient in the Britain is £40.xxx per week or £175 per month, including groceries, takeaways and restaurants. However food needs vary past age and gender and so will food budgets—for case, an agile beau can burn down 50% more calories than the average person and would therefore spend more on food. Food consumes around 19% of a typical household's upkeep (more than nosotros spend on housing!). Most people spend two/three of this food budget on groceries and the other 1/3 on eating food prepared out.

The average spend on food per person is £40.xxx per week (£175 per month), including groceries and eating out—beyond all ages and genders. The average weekly nutrient store for 1 is £26.5 in the UK, plus nosotros spend another £13.8 on eating out or ordering takeaways each week. But men consume more than food and women less, so the average adult male spends around £49 a week (£212 a month) while women spend around £37 a week (£162 a calendar month).

The average monthly nutrient budget for 2 in the UK is £374; £246 of this is spent on groceries and £128 is spent on takeaways and eating place meals. The average weekly store for ii adults in the UK costs £57.

The average monthly food upkeep for a family of 3 with 2 adults and one younger child under the age of 15 is £514; £339 of this is spent on groceries and £175 is spent on takeaways and eating place meals. The average weekly shop for a family of iii in the UK costs £78.

The average monthly nutrient bill for a family of 4 in the UK is £654; £431 of this is spent on groceries and £223 is spent on food prepared out of the house. The average weekly grocery bill for a family unit of 4 in the Uk is £99.

Average UK Household Budget for Nutrient at Home is £3,312

Nosotros love our processed meat, the category that takes the biggest seize with teeth out of our household nutrient budget. Nosotros spend a whopping 12% of our home food upkeep, or £385 a yr, on sausages, bacon, ham and other processed meats. We spend a touch more on fresh fruit (£208/year, including £78 on berries lonely) than nosotros do on cakes, buns and biscuits (£213/year). We also spend more on fresh vegetables (£234/year) than we do on cakes and biscuits!

Non-alcoholic drinks is another big part of our nutrient upkeep, consuming £276 a yr, mostly on soft drinks. The categories that make upwards the largest proportions of the typical Great britain food budget at home would be familiar to virtually households. Proceed in mind these are averages, so spending £0.30 a week on jam would exist like buying ane £0.ninety jar of jam every iii weeks, for example.

Household Budget: Food at Home	Weekly Average	Annual Boilerplate
Sausages, etc.	£6.60	£343
Bread, rice and cereals	£v.80	£302
Not-alcoholic drinks	£five.30	£276
Fresh vegetables	£4.fifty	£234
Fresh Fruit	£4.00	£208
Buns, cakes, biscuits, etc.	£4.10	£213
Fish	£3.20	£166
Other sauces, herbs, etc.	£two.80	£146
Potatoes and other tubers	£2.l	£130
Poultry	£2.40	£125
Yoghurt, etc	£2.30	£120
Milk	£2.ten	£109
Cheese	£ii.20	£114
Beef	£i.90	£99
Chocolate	£ii.30	£120
Dried or frozen vegetables	£2.10	£109
Frozen, preserved & stale fruits and nuts	£1.60	£83
Butter, margarine, cooking oils, etc.	£1.fifty	£78
Bacon and ham	£0.80	£42
Pastry (savoury)	£i.00	£52
Confectionery products	£0.80	£42
Eggs	£0.80	£42
Pork	£0.l	£26
Lamb	£0.70	£36
Edible ices and ice foam	£0.70	£36
Pasta	£0.50	£26
Sugar	£0.40	£21
Jams	£0.30	£16
Total Spend: Household Nutrient at Home	£63.70	£3,312

Average UK Household Budget for Food Exterior the Home is £1,716

Dining out at restaurants and cafés eats up the largest piece of our out-of-firm nutrient budget, costing the average household £1,050 a year. Takeaways, snacks and other food out costs the average household £666 per twelvemonth.

Household Budget: Nutrient Spend Outside the Home	Weekly Boilerplate	Annual Boilerplate
Eatery and café meals	£20.ii	£1,050
Take abroad meals eaten at dwelling	£v.6	£291
Other take-abroad and snack food	£5.3	£276
Canteens & Catering	£1.9	£99
Total Spend: Household Nutrient Outside the Home	£33.0	£1,716

How Does Food & Drink Spending Vary across Income Groups?

The highest earning households with disposable (after-tax) incomes over £72,000 per twelvemonth spend 3 times as much per year on food and alcoholic drinks compared to the lowest earning families with incomes nether £11,650.

Relative to boilerplate, lower earning households spend a pregnant amount more of their food budget on processed meats and milk. The highest earning households spend a pregnant amount less than boilerplate on processed meats and more than on fresh vegetables. Not surprisingly, the everyman income groups spend the highest proportion of their full household upkeep on nutrient and drinks: 21%. We all need to eat and this budget surface area can only exist cutting and so much. As a consequence, a college percentage of dispensable income must go towards the food budget for the lowest earners.

Weekly Nutrient Budgets Increasing with Rising Incomes

Wealthier families spend a greater proportion of their total food and drink budget—44%—on food and drink abroad from abode, which includes restaurant meals and takeaways. Those on smaller budgets tend to save money by eating at home more, spending 75% of their food and drink budgets for consumption at home and only 25% of their nutrient and drink budgets out at restaurants and on take aways.

% of Nutrient and Potable Budgets Spent Dining Out

In terms of actual spending, you tin see how weekly food and beverage budgets increase as dispensable incomes ascension. The wealthier dine out more than, the budget-constricted eat at home more than.

Average Weekly Nutrient & Beverage Spending (at home and out) by Disposable Income Grouping

Shortcomings

To calculate food costs per person and for unlike household sizes, we had to take into account the unlike caloric needs of people of different ages and genders. For example, a young, agile male would fire effectually 3,200 worth of food a day while a typical 5-year-old kid would burn just 1,400 a day. And the more nutrient you eat, the more it costs you.

To guess these figures, we offset calculated the weighted boilerplate caloric needs of the Britain population, and divided the average spending for a household by the boilerplate number of people in a household (two.4) to get a per (average) person food budget. Then we tweaked this average 'per person' number to reflect the caloric needs of different ages and genders. Nosotros multiplied these per-person figures by the relevant caloric needs and added upwardly the people in a household to find the budget for different families. See beneath for an example of our calculations. Calorie need figures were sourced here.

	Average caloric needs	Difference from average	Weekly food store	Weekly cost of food prepared out	Average food costs per week
Per Person	2,128	0%	£26.7	£13.8	£40.42
Adult Male (historic period 16+)	ii,586	22%	£32.3	£16.7	£48.96
Young, active male	3,200	l%	£39.eight	£twenty.vi	£60.44
Adult Female (Historic period sixteen+)	1,971	-seven%	£24.6	£12.seven	£37.33
Young, active female	two,400	13%	£30.one	£15.5	£45.58
Child (ages ii - fifteen)	1,707	-20%	£21.3	£11.0	£32.33

While this attempts to take into account unlike nutrient needs for family members of different ages and genders, delight keep in listen that these are estimates. And the calculations don't have into business relationship savings that larger families can achieve past ownership in bulk, or that some families are a lot more upkeep conscious than others. If y'all have people in your family who eat less (e.thou., a really small-scale child) or are an efficient shopper who is careful with prices and takes reward of sales or buying in bulk (e.one thousand., to feed a large family) then keep this in listen when comparing your own spending to the figures presented here.

Cheap Eats: How to Save on Food

Whatever your food budget, you can probably borrow some tips from thrifty households to reduce costs downward even further. Attempt to work these methods into your family's food plan.

1. Melt at domicile

It does have more fourth dimension, but cooking and eating at domicile can save loads of money over the long run. Consider that the actual cost of food for a restaurant meal is less than a third of what you pay for it. The rest of the money you spend at a restaurant goes to other costs like labor and overhead. If y'all cook at home, you but pay the nutrient cost, and pocket the residuum. Team up with your partner, child or a friend to create great nutrient and memories.

two. Stock upwards on staples

Buy big. Packages, that is. Stores usually charge less per unit of measurement (kg, litre, etc.) when you buy more than at a time. This means that a 2 kg bag of rice will cost less per kilo than a 0.5 kg bag of rice. If you live near a warehouse store like Costco, consider becoming a member. There you'll have a better chance of finding the largest food packages (e.g., American sizes).

iii. Swap pricey proteins or appurtenances for cheaper ones

Ground beef costs less per pound than steaks. Chicken thighs cost less than craven breasts (and are juicier!). Include lots of stale beans into your meals to add together protein and fill up your family. Exist on the look out for discounted food that the grocery shop needs to sell that day due to an impending expiration date—just exist certain to cook it ASAP!

Another way to reduce your food budget is by taking a look at your nonalcoholic beverages spend. The average Uk family spends a whopping 8% of their at-home nutrient budget on coffee, tea, juices, mineral/sparkling water and sodas. While we'd never propose eliminating your daily cuppa (java and tea aren't the budget problem anyway), there is really no room for soda, juice and fancy water in a tight budget. We have two words for you: tap h2o.

If y'all don't similar the sense of taste of the life-saving liquid that flows plentifully from your tap, endeavor squeezing in some lemon or boiling it into tea. We try to keep a pitcher of homemade iced herbal tea in the refrigerator—tastes great, cheap and has no sugar or sugar substitutes. Ownership cappuccino at chains similar Starbucks or Costa everyday, while convenient, can easily full £ane,000 a year, based on our calculations. Instant coffee with a dash of cinnamon or chocolate on top is an piece of cake and impressive alternative.

Food and potable may be necessary for life, only a few modest tweaks can help you lot spend less on them.

Food Budgeting

In improver to the steps above, if you're struggling with the budget information technology can be handy to take a deep swoop into your electric current household spending. People are often surprised when they run the numbers over a month and realise how much they spend on expensive food items similar takeaways or coffee-shop coffee. For example, spending £xl on a weekly pizza takeaway, including soda and appetizers, adds up to over £two,000 a yr! Popping a few frozen grocery store pizzas in the oven will cost less than half the price.

To empathize your food spending you tin sit downwardly with pen and newspaper and go through your bank statements and credit menu bills once a calendar month. Alternatively, there are a number of handy tech resources at our disposal these days.

For example, Money Dashboard is a personal finance app where y'all can easily view all your accounts and track your spending by category—they accept separate pre-set categories including 'groceries' and 'food & beverage', which tracks money spent eating out. Money Dashboard is rated 4.9 out of v stars by existing customers and is free to use. Budgeting apps similar this (there are a number of them in the market) can exist a slap-up resources if you're watching your spending.

Comparison Food Spend to Other Areas of the Budget

While food is clearly a big budget item, in that location are a few categories that take an fifty-fifty larger bite of the boilerplate annual household budget. The boilerplate UK household too spends over £4,750 on transportation costs (including related insurance) and a whopping £10,600 on all things housing. Our largest utility cost is gas and electricity. The boilerplate Britain household spent another £1,360 per year on gas and electricity in 2019. The cost to low-cal, oestrus and run our homes accounts for close to 5% of our household budgets each year.

If your household buys in bulk to save money and keeps a large store of food in the freezer, particularly expensive items like meat, yous might desire to check your dwelling insurance policy to see if freezer contents are covered. Policies that include freezer food will reimburse you lot up to a certain amount (e.g., £1,000) if, for instance, yous lose the contents of your freezer due to an electric failure or your freezer breaking downwardly.

Note: Updated in March 2021 to reflect the nearly contempo 2020 Living Costs and Nutrient Survey from the ONS.

Sources:

Office of National Statistics Household size from the Office of National Statistics

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Source: https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-cost-food

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