Food inflation jumped to 3.4% in April, with the rising cost of feeding the nation contributing to the overall UK inflation rate reaching its highest level for over a year.
Overall inflation rose to 3.5% this morning, according to the Office for National Statistics – a steep climb from 2.6% in March and above analysts’ forecasts of around 3.3%.
The increase was led by surging gas, electricity and water prices, as well as rising food costs. Food inflation had previously fallen to 3% in March.
Prices of food and and drink were pushed higher by upward trends across meat, butter, mineral water, bread and cereals, and sugar and jam.
The biggest falls in pricing came from vegetables, as well as from milk, cheese and eggs, though these were not enough to offset the increases elsewhere.
Six categories of food and drinks saw prices rise in double digits: butter (19.9%), edible offal (14.7%), chocolate (14.6%), lamb and goat (13.8%) beef and veal (12.2%), and cocoa and powdered chocolate (10.2%).
On a monthly basis, food prices rose by 0.7% in April 2025, up from 0.3% a year before.
Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, highlighted that: “Significant increases in household bills caused inflation to climb steeply.
The Food & Drink Federation told The Telegraph it was ”concerned” to see this morning’s data, predicting that food inflation could average 4.3% throughout 2025 and could rise by as high as 4.8% by the end of the year.
“Food and drink manufacturers continue to work hard to protect shoppers from rising prices and safeguard the UK’s food security,” said Balwinder Dhoot, FDF director of sustainability and industry growth.
“It’s imperative that government reflects the importance of our sector to the UK economy and the nation’s food supply by making growth a top priority in its upcoming food and industrial strategies.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she was “disappointed” with the jump in inflation, but pledged to go “further and faster” with Labour’s existing economic plans.
“I am disappointed with these figures because I know cost of living pressures are still weighing down on working people,” she said.
“We are a long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous administration, but I’m determined that we go further and faster to put more money in people’s pockets.”
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