Average Cost of Food for a Family of 4

According to data from the Office of National Statistics, the average UK household spends £3,312 on groceries and £one,716 on restaurants and takeaways every year. As a result, in 2019 Britain households spent 16% of their budgets on nutrient and non-alcoholic drinks. Another three% of budgets went to alcohol, which you lot can read more virtually in our related article Average Spending on Alcohol in the UK.

In this written report we'll show the breakdown of household habitation food budgets per calendar week and per calendar 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 final year, making this an important budget category.

Please notation that these figures reflect boilerplate amounts actually spent according to the ONS survey, they are not recommendations about how much you lot should spend. Food spending varies a LOT from ane household to another based on factors like income, size and makeup of the household, the food y'all buy and other factors. You tin get a sense of this past viewing the poll results farther downwards in the article.

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

Ascent in Food Prices

Before nosotros dig into the average spending on food in the post-obit sections, we want to accept a moment to address the recent ascent in food prices because many households are feeling the compression and facing larger food bills each week.

We've analysed contempo data from the Office for National Statistics and establish that food prices rose iv.v% in the 12 months from January 2021 to Jan 2022. Oils and fats rose the most, up a whopping 15.nine%, followed by fruit (+vi.ix%) and milk, cheese and eggs (+five.7%). You tin see more item in the tabular array beneath. Fresh, seasonal foods are generally upwards more than processed foods, which is mayhap not a surprise given supply concatenation issues could impact fresh food send more than.

And if y'all'd like even more item (e.g. cost rises for individual items like flour, instant coffee, tomatoes, beef roasting joints, roasting chickens, etc.) please let us know in the comments section at the bottom and we tin can add those to the tabular array every bit well. We're wary of adding too much detail, simply it can be useful to know that tomatoes and instant coffee are up x.5% in the past 12 months alone, for example.

Rise in Food Prices (% modify over 12 months)		January 2021 to January 2022
Nutrient and Non-alcoholic Beverages		4.four%
Nutrient		4.5%
	Oils & fats	15.9%
	Fruit	six.9%
	Milk, cheese and eggs	5.7%
	Seasonal food	v.3%
	Non-processed nutrient	iv.7%
	Vegetables (including potatoes and tubers)	iv.v%
	Processed food & non-alcoholic beverages	4.0%
	Meat	3.9%
	Bread & cereals	three.6%
	Fish	ii.9%
	Sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate and confectionery	2.two%
Not-alcoholic Beverages		3.2%
	Coffee, tea & cocoa	iv.9%
	Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	iii.3%
	Mineral waters, soft drinks and juices	2.v%
Alcoholic Beverages		one.four%
	Wine	2.9%
	Spirits	0.2%
	Beer	0.2%

Average Food Costs

The average annual food cost for a typical United kingdom household was effectually £5,028 in 2020 (based on the average 2.4 people per household), including £276 spent on non-alcoholic drinks. The boilerplate weekly nutrient cost for the typical UK household is £97, up effectually 3% from 2019. (Note: for the purposes of this commodity, "nutrient" includes non-alcoholic drinks just not alcoholic drinks.) Food price equally a percentage of the boilerplate UK household budget has remained steady for over fifteen years.

On average, we spend about two thirds of our food budget on meals and snacks prepared and eaten at home, and we spend one third of our nutrient costs on eating out. That is, households spend on average £iii,312 a year on food for home (most the same as the cost to run a auto) and £1,716 on takeaways, restaurants, cafés, snacks, etc.

Average UK Food Spend, Annual and Weekly

		Per Person^	Per Household (avg. ii.4 people)
Weekly	Food at Domicile	£26.v	£64
	Food Out (e.g., restaurants, take abroad, etc.)	£xiii.8	£33
	Total	£40.3	£97
Per Year	Food at Home	£1,380	£3,312
	Food Out (e.g., restaurants, take away, etc.)	£715	£1,716
	Total	£2,095	£5,028

^ Notation, the 'per person' figure is averaged over men, women and children of all ages. Manifestly, caloric needs vary. For case, a immature, active man would take much college caloric needs and would therefore spend more on nutrient than, say, a typical woman or child. See more than detail on foods costs by gender and age below.

How Much we Spend per Yr on Food at Abode vs. Exterior the Home

If you're wondering how much households similar yours spend on nutrient each week or calendar month, below nosotros interruption down weekly and monthly nutrient bills for households of dissimilar sizes, based on expected caloric needs of unlike ages and genders.

Boilerplate Food Costs per Week

• Per Person: The boilerplate weekly food store is £26.5 per person in the U.k.—but clearly caloric needs vary past historic period and gender. When you add together £13.8 spent on food prepared out (e.g., restaurants and takeaways), the average weekly food nib for i person is £40.3.
• Boilerplate Adult Man: The boilerplate adult male spends around £32 on groceries, £17 on food out and £49 altogether on nutrient each week.
• Young, active developed homo: A young, active adult human being around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are l% higher than the average person would theoretically spend effectually £60 a week on food (£twoscore οn groceries and £21 out).
• Average Developed Woman: The average adult female theoretically spends around £25 on groceries, £xiii on food out and £37 altogether on food each week.
• Young, active adult adult female: A young, active adult woman effectually 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 13% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £46 a week on nutrient (£30 οn groceries and £16 out).
• 2 Adults: The boilerplate weekly food bill for ii adults would be around £86 in total—£57 spent on the weekly food shop and £29 spent on food out.
• Family of 3: The average weekly food bill for a family of three (two adults and one younger child) is around £119—£78 spent on the weekly nutrient shop and £41 spent on food out.
• Family unit of 4: The typical family of four (two adults and 2 younger children) would spend around £151 each week on food—£99 on the weekly shop and £52 on restaurant and takeaway meals.
• Family of five: Larger families of v (two adults and 3 younger children) spend around £121 on the weekly shop and another £63 on food prepared out, bringing the total average food pecker for a family unit of v to £183.
• Family of 3 adults: Three adults (or ii adults and one older teenager) would spend around £85 on groceries, £44 on food prepared out and £129 altogether on nutrient each calendar week, clearly with budget varying past the age and gender of the family members.

Boilerplate Cost of Food per Week	Grocery Shopping	Eating Food Prepared Out	Full Food Nib
Per Person	£26.5	£13.eight	£40.3
Young, active developed male	£39.viii	£20.6	£sixty.iv
Average adult male	£32.iii	£16.seven	£49.0
Young, agile woman	£30.1	£15.5	£45.6
Average adult female	£24.half dozen	£12.7	£37.3
Average child	£21.iii	£11.0	£32.3
2 adults (one homo + one woman)	£56.8	£29.iv	£86.3
2 adults + 1 child	£78.1	£forty.v	£118.6
ii adults + 2 children	£99.4	£51.5	£150.9
two adults + three children	£120.7	£62.v	£183.3
3 adults	£85.3	£44.ii	£129.4

Average Food Cost per Week UK

Poll: How Much do You Spend on Food Each Calendar week?

Participate in our poll and then we tin can see how much people actually spend on food and drink each week. Give united states your best guess as to the average per person weekly food spending in your household, based on your nutrient budget (include both groceries, take aways and meals out). Once yous enter your answer the results will show then you can compare your spending to what other people have said they spend on food.

Average Food Costs per Month

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

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

Average Cost of Food per Month	Grocery Shopping	Eating Food Prepared Out	Total Food Bill
Per Person	£115	£60	£175
Young, active adult male	£173	£89	£262
Average developed male person	£140	£72	£212
Young, agile adult female person	£130	£67	£198
Boilerplate adult female	£107	£55	£162
Average child	£92	£48	£140
2 adults (1 man + 1 woman)	£246	£128	£374
2 adults + 1 child	£339	£175	£514
2 adults + ii children	£431	£223	£654
2 adults + iii children	£523	£271	£794
3 adults	£369	£191	£561

Average Food Toll per Calendar month UK

FAQs

When deciding how much you should spend on food, information technology tin assist to know that a person'south average spend on nutrient in the Great britain is £xl.30 per calendar week or £175 per month, including groceries, takeaways and restaurants. However food needs vary by age and gender and so will food budgets—for example, an agile boyfriend can fire l% more calories than the average person and would therefore spend more than on food. Food consumes around 19% of a typical household's budget (more we spend on housing!). Most people spend 2/3 of this food budget on groceries and the other i/3 on eating food prepared out.

The boilerplate spend on nutrient per person is £forty.30 per calendar week (£175 per month), including groceries and eating out—across all ages and genders. The average weekly food shop for one is £26.5 in the U.k., plus we spend another £13.8 on eating out or ordering takeaways each week. But men consume more nutrient and women less, so the average adult male spends effectually £49 a week (£212 a month) while women spend effectually £37 a week (£162 a calendar month).

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

The average monthly food budget for a family of 3 with two adults and one younger child nether the age of xv is £514; £339 of this is spent on groceries and £175 is spent on takeaways and eating house meals. The average weekly shop for a family of three in the UK costs £78.

The average monthly food bill for a family of 4 in the United kingdom 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 Food at Domicile is £3,312

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

Non-alcoholic drinks is another large part of our food budget, consuming £276 a year, mostly on soft drinks. The categories that make up the largest proportions of the typical UK food budget at home would be familiar to almost households. Keep in mind these are averages, and then spending £0.30 a week on jam would be like buying ane £0.90 jar of jam every 3 weeks, for instance.

Household Budget: Nutrient at Home	Weekly Boilerplate	Annual Average
Sausages, etc.	£6.60	£343
Bread, rice and cereals	£five.80	£302
Not-alcoholic drinks	£5.30	£276
Fresh vegetables	£4.l	£234
Fresh Fruit	£4.00	£208
Buns, cakes, biscuits, etc.	£4.10	£213
Fish	£iii.xx	£166
Other sauces, herbs, etc.	£two.eighty	£146
Potatoes and other tubers	£ii.50	£130
Poultry	£two.40	£125
Yoghurt, etc	£2.xxx	£120
Milk	£two.10	£109
Cheese	£ii.twenty	£114
Beef	£1.90	£99
Chocolate	£2.30	£120
Stale or frozen vegetables	£2.10	£109
Frozen, preserved & dried fruits and nuts	£1.lx	£83
Butter, margarine, cooking oils, etc.	£one.fifty	£78
Bacon and ham	£0.80	£42
Pastry (savoury)	£ane.00	£52
Confectionery products	£0.80	£42
Eggs	£0.lxxx	£42
Pork	£0.50	£26
Lamb	£0.70	£36
Edible ices and ice cream	£0.70	£36
Pasta	£0.fifty	£26
Sugar	£0.twoscore	£21
Jams	£0.30	£sixteen
Total Spend: Household Food at Home	£63.70	£3,312

Average UK Household Budget for Food Outside the Domicile is £1,716

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

Household Upkeep: Nutrient Spend Outside the Habitation	Weekly Boilerplate	Annual Average
Eating house and café meals	£20.ii	£1,050
Have abroad meals eaten at dwelling	£5.six	£291
Other take-away and snack food	£5.3	£276
Canteens & Catering	£i.9	£99
Full Spend: Household Nutrient Exterior the Habitation	£33.0	£1,716

How Does Food & Drinkable Spending Vary across Income Groups?

The highest earning households with disposable (afterwards-tax) incomes over £72,000 per twelvemonth spend three times as much per year on nutrient and alcoholic drinks compared to the lowest earning families with incomes under £eleven,650.

Relative to boilerplate, lower earning households spend a significant corporeality more of their nutrient budget on candy meats and milk. The highest earning households spend a significant corporeality less than average on candy meats and more than on fresh vegetables. Non surprisingly, the lowest income groups spend the highest proportion of their full household budget on food and drinks: 21%. We all demand to swallow and this budget area tin can only be cut so much. As a result, a higher percent of disposable income must go towards the food budget for the lowest earners.

Weekly Food Budgets Increasing with Ascent Incomes

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

% of Food and Drink Budgets Spent Dining Out

In terms of actual spending, you tin see how weekly food and drink budgets increase as disposable incomes rising. The wealthier dine out more, the upkeep-constricted eat at home more.

Average Weekly Nutrient & Drink Spending (at domicile and out) by Disposable Income Group

Shortcomings

To calculate nutrient costs per person and for different household sizes, we had to accept into account the unlike caloric needs of people of dissimilar ages and genders. For example, a immature, active male would burn around 3,200 worth of food a solar day while a typical 5-twelvemonth-old child would burn down just 1,400 a day. And the more nutrient yous eat, the more it costs you.

To estimate these figures, we first calculated the weighted average caloric needs of the UK population, and divided the average spending for a household past the average number of people in a household (2.4) to become a per (average) person food budget. Then nosotros tweaked this average 'per person' number to reflect the caloric needs of different ages and genders. We multiplied these per-person figures by the relevant caloric needs and added up the people in a household to find the upkeep for different families. Meet below for an case of our calculations. Calorie need figures were sourced here.

	Average caloric needs	Difference from average	Weekly food shop	Weekly toll of food prepared out	Average food costs per calendar week
Per Person	2,128	0%	£26.7	£13.8	£40.42
Adult Male (age sixteen+)	2,586	22%	£32.3	£16.7	£48.96
Young, active male	3,200	50%	£39.8	£20.vi	£60.44
Adult Female (Historic period 16+)	1,971	-7%	£24.6	£12.7	£37.33
Young, active female	2,400	xiii%	£30.1	£15.5	£45.58
Child (ages 2 - xv)	one,707	-xx%	£21.three	£11.0	£32.33

While this attempts to accept into account unlike food needs for family members of dissimilar ages and genders, please keep in mind that these are estimates. And the calculations don't take into business relationship savings that larger families tin can reach by buying in bulk, or that some families are a lot more budget conscious than others. If you have people in your family who consume less (east.one thousand., a really small child) or are an efficient shopper who is careful with prices and takes advantage of sales or ownership in bulk (e.one thousand., to feed a large family) then keep this in mind when comparing your own spending to the figures presented here.

Cheap Eats: How to Salvage on Food

Whatever your food budget, you can probably borrow some tips from thrifty households to reduce costs down fifty-fifty further. Endeavour to work these methods into your family'due south food plan.

1. Melt at habitation

Information technology does take more than time, but cooking and eating at home tin salvage loads of money over the long run. Consider that the actual toll of food for a eating place repast is less than a third of what you pay for it. The residual of the money you spend at a eating house goes to other costs like labor and overhead. If you cook at home, you only pay the nutrient price, and pocket the residual. Team upward with your partner, kid or a friend to create neat food and memories.

ii. Stock up on staples

Buy big. Packages, that is. Stores normally charge less per unit of measurement (kg, litre, etc.) when you buy more at a time. This means that a two 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 fellow member. There you'll have a better chance of finding the largest food packages (e.g., American sizes).

3. Swap pricey proteins or goods for cheaper ones

Ground beef costs less per pound than steaks. Chicken thighs toll less than chicken breasts (and are juicier!). Include lots of dried beans into your meals to add together protein and fill your family unit. Be on the look out for discounted food that the grocery store needs to sell that day due to an impending expiration engagement—just be sure to melt it ASAP!

Some other way to reduce your food budget is past taking a await at your nonalcoholic beverages spend. The average United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland family spends a whopping 8% of their at-home food budget on coffee, tea, juices, mineral/sparkling water and sodas. While we'd never advise eliminating your daily cuppa (coffee and tea aren't the upkeep problem anyhow), in that location is really no room for soda, juice and fancy h2o in a tight upkeep. We take two words for y'all: tap water.

If y'all don't like the taste of the life-saving liquid that flows plentifully from your tap, try squeezing in some lemon or humid it into tea. We endeavour to keep a pitcher of homemade iced herbal tea in the refrigerator—tastes keen, cheap and has no sugar or sugar substitutes. Buying cappuccino at bondage similar Starbucks or Costa everyday, while convenient, can easily full £1,000 a year, based on our calculations. Instant coffee with a nuance of cinnamon or chocolate on tiptop is an like shooting fish in a barrel and impressive alternative.

Food and drink may be necessary for life, but a few small tweaks tin help you spend less on them.

Nutrient Budgeting

In add-on to the steps higher up, if you're struggling with the upkeep it can be handy to have a deep dive into your 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 java-shop coffee. For instance, spending £forty on a weekly pizza takeaway, including soda and appetizers, adds up to over £2,000 a twelvemonth! Popping a few frozen grocery shop pizzas in the oven volition price less than half the price.

To understand your nutrient spending you can sit with pen and newspaper and get through your bank statements and credit menu bills one time a month. Alternatively, in that location are a number of handy tech resources at our disposal these days.

For case, Money Dashboard is a personal finance app where you can easily view all your accounts and rails your spending by category—they have separate pre-set categories including 'groceries' and 'food & drink', which tracks money spent eating out. Money Dashboard is rated iv.ix out of 5 stars by existing customers and is free to use. Budgeting apps similar this (there are a number of them in the market) tin be a great resource if you're watching your spending.

Comparing Food Spend to Other Areas of the Budget

While food is clearly a large budget item, there are a few categories that take an even larger bite of the average annual household budget. The average Britain household as well 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 average United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland household spent another £1,360 per year on gas and electricity in 2019. The toll to calorie-free, heat and run our homes accounts for close to five% of our household budgets each year.

If your household buys in majority to save coin and keeps a big store of nutrient in the freezer, especially expensive items like meat, you might want to check your domicile insurance policy to see if freezer contents are covered. Policies that include freezer food will reimburse you up to a certain amount (e.g., £1,000) if, for instance, you lose the contents of your freezer due to an electrical failure or your freezer breaking down.

Notation: Updated in March 2021 to reflect the most recent 2020 Living Costs and Food 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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