How Much Should Family of 4 Spend on Groceries

According to data from the Part of National Statistics, the average Britain household spends £3,312 on groceries and £1,716 on restaurants and takeaways every year. As a issue, in 2019 UK households spent xvi% of their budgets on nutrient and non-alcoholic drinks. Another 3% of budgets went to alcohol, which you lot can read more most in our related article Average Spending on Booze in the UK.

In this study we'll show the breakup of household dwelling house 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 last year, making this an of import budget category.

Please note that these figures reverberate boilerplate amounts really spent according to the ONS survey, they are non recommendations about how much you should spend. Food spending varies a LOT from i household to another based on factors like income, size and makeup of the household, the nutrient you lot buy and other factors. You tin become a sense of this past viewing the poll results further downwardly in the commodity.

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

Rise in Food Prices

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

Nosotros'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 most, upward a whopping 15.9%, followed by fruit (+6.9%) and milk, cheese and eggs (+5.vii%). You can run into more particular in the table beneath. Fresh, seasonal foods are generally up more than processed foods, which is perhaps not a surprise given supply concatenation issues could impact fresh food transport more than.

And if y'all'd like fifty-fifty more item (eastward.one thousand. cost rises for individual items similar flour, instant coffee, tomatoes, beef roasting joints, roasting chickens, etc.) please permit u.s. know in the comments section at the bottom and we tin can add those to the tabular array as well. We're wary of adding too much detail, but it can exist useful to know that tomatoes and instant coffee are up 10.v% in the past 12 months alone, for example.

Rise in Food Prices (% modify over 12 months)		January 2021 to January 2022
Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages		4.iv%
Food		4.5%
	Oils & fats	fifteen.nine%
	Fruit	6.9%
	Milk, cheese and eggs	v.7%
	Seasonal food	v.three%
	Non-candy food	4.7%
	Vegetables (including potatoes and tubers)	iv.5%
	Candy food & non-alcoholic beverages	iv.0%
	Meat	3.9%
	Staff of life & cereals	3.6%
	Fish	ii.9%
	Sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate and confectionery	two.two%
Non-alcoholic Beverages		iii.two%
	Coffee, tea & cocoa	4.9%
	Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	3.3%
	Mineral waters, soft drinks and juices	ii.5%
Alcoholic Beverages		1.4%
	Wine	ii.9%
	Spirits	0.2%
	Beer	0.two%

Average Nutrient Costs

The average annual food cost for a typical Uk household was effectually £v,028 in 2020 (based on the boilerplate 2.4 people per household), including £276 spent on non-alcoholic drinks. The average weekly nutrient cost for the typical Britain household is £97, up around iii% from 2019. (Annotation: for the purposes of this article, "food" includes non-alcoholic drinks but not alcoholic drinks.) Food cost equally a percent of the average UK household budget has remained steady for over fifteen years.

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

Average United kingdom Food Spend, Almanac and Weekly

		Per Person^	Per Household (avg. 2.4 people)
Weekly	Food at Home	£26.5	£64
	Food Out (east.g., restaurants, take abroad, etc.)	£13.8	£33
	Total	£40.3	£97
Per Yr	Food at Dwelling house	£1,380	£three,312
	Food Out (e.g., restaurants, have abroad, etc.)	£715	£ane,716
	Total	£2,095	£5,028

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

How Much nosotros Spend per Year on Food at Habitation vs. Outside the Habitation

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

Average Food Costs per Week

• Per Person: The average weekly nutrient shop is £26.v per person in the Britain—but clearly caloric needs vary by age and gender. When you lot add £13.8 spent on food prepared out (eastward.g., restaurants and takeaways), the average weekly food bill for one person is £40.3.
• Average Adult Man: The boilerplate adult male person spends around £32 on groceries, £17 on food out and £49 altogether on food each week.
• Young, agile adult man: A young, active adult man around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 50% higher than the average person would theoretically spend effectually £60 a week on food (£40 οn groceries and £21 out).
• Boilerplate Adult Woman: The average adult female person theoretically spends around £25 on groceries, £13 on food out and £37 birthday on food each week.
• Young, agile adult woman: A young, agile adult woman effectually 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 13% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £46 a calendar week on food (£30 οn groceries and £16 out).
• 2 Adults: The average weekly food pecker for ii adults would exist around £86 in total—£57 spent on the weekly nutrient store and £29 spent on food out.
• Family of 3: The boilerplate weekly food bill for a family of 3 (two adults and one younger child) is around £119—£78 spent on the weekly food shop and £41 spent on food out.
• Family of 4: The typical family unit of four (two adults and 2 younger children) would spend around £151 each week on food—£99 on the weekly store and £52 on restaurant and takeaway meals.
• Family unit of 5: Larger families of 5 (2 adults and 3 younger children) spend effectually £121 on the weekly shop and another £63 on food prepared out, bringing the total average food bill for a family of 5 to £183.
• Family of 3 adults: Three adults (or two adults and i older teenager) would spend around £85 on groceries, £44 on food prepared out and £129 altogether on food each week, conspicuously with upkeep varying by the age and gender of the family unit members.

Boilerplate Cost of Food per Week	Grocery Shopping	Eating Nutrient Prepared Out	Total Food Bill
Per Person	£26.five	£13.8	£40.3
Immature, active adult male person	£39.8	£20.vi	£60.4
Boilerplate developed male person	£32.3	£16.7	£49.0
Young, active woman	£30.i	£xv.5	£45.6
Average adult female	£24.6	£12.vii	£37.iii
Boilerplate child	£21.3	£xi.0	£32.3
2 adults (1 man + 1 woman)	£56.8	£29.4	£86.three
ii adults + 1 child	£78.1	£40.five	£118.half dozen
two adults + two children	£99.4	£51.5	£150.nine
2 adults + iii children	£120.7	£62.five	£183.iii
three adults	£85.iii	£44.ii	£129.four

Average Food Cost per Week United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland

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

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

Average Food Costs per Calendar month

• Per Person: The average monthly food budget in the Great britain is £175 per person, of which £115 is spent on grocery shopping and £lx on food prepared out, such as takeaways and restaurant meals.
• Average Developed Man: The average adult male would spend effectually £140 on groceries, £72 on nutrient out and £212 altogether on food each month.
• Immature, active developed man: A young, agile developed homo effectually 18 years of historic period whose caloric needs are l% higher than the boilerplate person would theoretically spend around £262 a calendar month on food (£173 οn groceries and £89 out).
• Average Adult Woman: The average adult female person would spend around £107 on groceries, £55 on food out and £162 altogether on nutrient each month.
• Young, agile adult woman: A young, active adult adult female around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are thirteen% 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 upkeep for 2 adults in the United kingdom is twice this, or £374 per month—£246 on groceries and £128 on eating out.
• Family of 3 The average food bill for a family of 3 (with 2 adults and i 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 average Britain family of four (2 adults and 2 younger children) spends £654 in full on food each calendar month—£431 on grocery shopping bills and another £223 on food out.
• Family of 5: Larger families of 5 (two adults and 3 younger children) spend around £523 a calendar month on groceries and some other £271 on food prepared out, bringing the total boilerplate food pecker for a family of 5 to effectually £794.
• Family of 3 adults: Three adults (or ii adults and an older teenage child) would spend around £369 on groceries, £191 on nutrient prepared out and £561 altogether on nutrient each calendar month, conspicuously with budget varying past the age and gender of the family members.

Please keep in heed these are theoretical figures base of operations on expected caloric intake, using average per person figures as a starting point. We provide them to give a crude idea of what people typically spend. Your budget might (need to) be dissimilar.

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

Average Food Cost per Month UK

FAQs

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

The average spend on food per person is £40.30 per calendar week (£175 per month), including groceries and eating out—across all ages and genders. The boilerplate weekly food shop 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 food and women less, so the average adult male spends effectually £49 a week (£212 a month) while women spend around £37 a week (£162 a calendar month).

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

The average monthly nutrient budget for a family of 3 with two adults and one younger kid under the age of xv is £514; £339 of this is spent on groceries and £175 is spent on takeaways and restaurant meals. The average weekly shop for a family of 3 in the UK costs £78.

The average monthly food bill for a family of 4 in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland 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 United kingdom is £99.

Average UK Household Upkeep for Nutrient at Dwelling is £3,312

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

Non-alcoholic drinks is another large office of our food budget, consuming £276 a yr, more often than not on soft drinks. The categories that make upwardly the largest proportions of the typical Uk food upkeep at home would exist familiar to most households. Keep in listen these are averages, so spending £0.30 a week on jam would exist like buying one £0.90 jar of jam every three weeks, for example.

Household Budget: Nutrient at Abode	Weekly Average	Annual Average
Sausages, etc.	£6.60	£343
Breadstuff, rice and cereals	£5.80	£302
Non-alcoholic drinks	£5.30	£276
Fresh vegetables	£4.50	£234
Fresh Fruit	£four.00	£208
Buns, cakes, biscuits, etc.	£4.ten	£213
Fish	£iii.20	£166
Other sauces, herbs, etc.	£ii.fourscore	£146
Potatoes and other tubers	£2.50	£130
Poultry	£2.40	£125
Yoghurt, etc	£2.thirty	£120
Milk	£two.ten	£109
Cheese	£2.20	£114
Beef	£1.xc	£99
Chocolate	£2.30	£120
Dried or frozen vegetables	£2.10	£109
Frozen, preserved & stale fruits and nuts	£1.60	£83
Butter, margarine, cooking oils, etc.	£ane.50	£78
Bacon and ham	£0.80	£42
Pastry (savoury)	£one.00	£52
Confectionery products	£0.80	£42
Eggs	£0.80	£42
Pork	£0.fifty	£26
Lamb	£0.lxx	£36
Edible ices and ice cream	£0.lxx	£36
Pasta	£0.50	£26
Carbohydrate	£0.40	£21
Jams	£0.thirty	£16
Full Spend: Household Food at Home	£63.70	£3,312

Boilerplate UK Household Budget for Food Outside the Dwelling is £1,716

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

Household Budget: Food Spend Outside the Dwelling house	Weekly Average	Almanac Boilerplate
Eating place and café meals	£20.2	£1,050
Take away meals eaten at home	£v.six	£291
Other accept-away and snack nutrient	£5.3	£276
Canteens & Catering	£one.9	£99
Total Spend: Household Food Outside the Home	£33.0	£one,716

How Does Food & Drinkable Spending Vary across Income Groups?

The highest earning households with disposable (after-taxation) 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 under £11,650.

Relative to average, lower earning households spend a significant amount more than of their food budget on processed meats and milk. The highest earning households spend a pregnant amount less than average on processed meats and more on fresh vegetables. Not surprisingly, the lowest income groups spend the highest proportion of their total household budget on food and drinks: 21%. Nosotros all need to consume and this budget surface area can just be cutting then much. Equally a upshot, a higher percentage of dispensable income must become towards the nutrient upkeep for the lowest earners.

Weekly Food Budgets Increasing with Rising Incomes

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

% of Food and Potable Budgets Spent Dining Out

In terms of actual spending, you can encounter how weekly food and beverage budgets increase as disposable incomes rise. The wealthier dine out more than, the budget-constricted swallow at home more.

Average Weekly Food & Drink Spending (at home and out) past Disposable Income Grouping

Shortcomings

To summate food costs per person and for unlike household sizes, we had to accept into business relationship the different caloric needs of people of different ages and genders. For example, a young, active male would burn around 3,200 worth of food a twenty-four hours while a typical 5-year-quondam child would burn merely 1,400 a 24-hour interval. And the more food you eat, the more it costs y'all.

To estimate these figures, we first calculated the weighted average caloric needs of the UK population, and divided the average spending for a household by the average number of people in a household (2.iv) to go a per (average) person food budget. Then nosotros tweaked this boilerplate '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 upwardly the people in a household to find the budget for unlike families. See beneath for an example of our calculations. Calorie need figures were sourced here.

	Average caloric needs	Departure from average	Weekly food shop	Weekly cost of food prepared out	Average food costs per calendar week
Per Person	2,128	0%	£26.seven	£xiii.eight	£twoscore.42
Adult Male (age sixteen+)	2,586	22%	£32.3	£sixteen.7	£48.96
Immature, agile male person	three,200	50%	£39.eight	£twenty.half dozen	£threescore.44
Adult Female (Age 16+)	1,971	-7%	£24.6	£12.7	£37.33
Young, agile female	2,400	13%	£30.1	£15.v	£45.58
Child (ages 2 - 15)	1,707	-20%	£21.3	£eleven.0	£32.33

While this attempts to take into account different food needs for family members of different ages and genders, delight keep in listen that these are estimates. And the calculations don't take into account savings that larger families can attain by buying in bulk, or that some families are a lot more than budget conscious than others. If you lot accept people in your family who swallow less (e.g., a really small-scale kid) or are an efficient shopper who is careful with prices and takes advantage of sales or buying in bulk (due east.one thousand., to feed a big family) then continue this in heed when comparing your own spending to the figures presented hither.

Inexpensive Eats: How to Save on Nutrient

Whatsoever your food budget, you lot can probably infringe some tips from thrifty households to reduce costs downwards even further. Attempt to work these methods into your family unit's food plan.

1. Cook at home

It does take more than time, only cooking and eating at home tin save loads of coin over the long run. Consider that the bodily cost of food for a restaurant repast is less than a tertiary of what you pay for it. The rest of the money you spend at a restaurant goes to other costs similar labor and overhead. If you melt at home, you lot just pay the food cost, and pocket the remainder. Team up with your partner, child or a friend to create great nutrient and memories.

2. Stock up on staples

Purchase big. Packages, that is. Stores usually charge less per unit (kg, litre, etc.) when you lot buy more at a time. This means that a ii kg bag of rice will cost less per kilo than a 0.5 kg purse of rice. If you live near a warehouse store like Costco, consider becoming a member. There you'll have a ameliorate adventure of finding the largest food packages (east.thou., American sizes).

iii. Swap pricey proteins or goods for cheaper ones

Basis beef costs less per pound than steaks. Chicken thighs cost less than chicken breasts (and are juicier!). Include lots of stale beans into your meals to add poly peptide and fill your family. Be on the look out for discounted food that the grocery store needs to sell that 24-hour interval due to an impending expiration appointment—but be certain to cook it ASAP!

Another 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 calm food upkeep on coffee, tea, juices, mineral/sparkling h2o and sodas. While we'd never suggest eliminating your daily cuppa (java and tea aren't the upkeep problem anyhow), there is really no room for soda, juice and fancy water in a tight budget. We have two words for yous: tap water.

If yous don't like the taste of the life-saving liquid that flows plentifully from your tap, endeavour squeezing in some lemon or humid it into tea. We try to keep a pitcher of homemade iced herbal tea in the fridge—tastes neat, cheap and has no sugar or sugar substitutes. Buying cappuccino at chains like Starbucks or Costa everyday, while convenient, can easily full £ane,000 a yr, based on our calculations. Instant coffee with a nuance of cinnamon or chocolate on top is an easy and impressive alternative.

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

Food Budgeting

In addition to the steps above, if yous're struggling with the budget it can be handy to accept a deep swoop into your current household spending. People are frequently surprised when they run the numbers over a month and realise how much they spend on expensive food items like takeaways or coffee-shop coffee. For example, spending £xl on a weekly pizza takeaway, including soda and appetizers, adds upward to over £2,000 a yr! Popping a few frozen grocery store pizzas in the oven volition toll less than half the price.

To understand your food spending you can sit down with pen and paper and get through your bank statements and credit card bills once a month. Alternatively, there are a number of handy tech resources at our disposal these days.

For example, Coin Dashboard is a personal finance app where you lot tin can easily view all your accounts and track your spending by category—they have separate pre-ready categories including 'groceries' and 'food & beverage', which tracks coin spent eating out. Coin Dashboard is rated 4.9 out of 5 stars by existing customers and is complimentary to utilise. Budgeting apps similar this (there are a number of them in the marketplace) can exist a groovy resources if you're watching your spending.

Comparing Nutrient Spend to Other Areas of the Upkeep

While nutrient is clearly a large budget detail, there are a few categories that accept an even larger bite of the average annual household upkeep. The average Britain household besides 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 cost to low-cal, rut and run our homes accounts for close to five% of our household budgets each year.

If your household buys in bulk to salve coin and keeps a large shop of nutrient in the freezer, especially expensive items like meat, you lot might want to check your home insurance policy to see if freezer contents are covered. Policies that include freezer food volition reimburse you up to a certain amount (e.g., £ane,000) if, for instance, y'all lose the contents of your freezer due to an electrical failure or your freezer breaking downwardly.

Note: Updated in March 2021 to reflect the most recent 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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