Food statistics in your pocket
Updated 9 April 2025
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£146.7bn The agri-food sector contribution to national Gross Value Added in 2022.
4.2m People employed in the agri-food sector in 2024, 13% of GB employment.
3.3% Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 3.3% in the 12 months to February 2025 (CPIH inflation).
£245.5bn Total consumer expenditure on food and alcoholic drinks in 2023.
£24.4bn The value of food and drink exports in 2023.
1. Food Chain
1.1 Gross Value Added of the UK Agri-food chain, 2022
| Sector | £ billion |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | £13.9bn |
| Food and Drink Manufacturing | £35.1bn |
| Food and Drink Wholesale | £16.6bn |
| Food and Drink Retail | £37.7bn |
| Non-Residential Catering | £43.4bn |
| Total Food | £132.9bn |
| Total Agri-Food | £146.7bn |
| Fishing | £1.0bn |
Accredited Official Statistic
Source: Annual Business Survey (ONS), Chapter 4: Accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) & Regional GVA for the UK, ONS
The agri-food chain contributed £146.7 billion or 6.5% to national Gross Value Added in 2022. This is equal to £65 for every £1,000 of value added in the UK economy.
The GVA of the food chain (excluding agriculture and fishing) was £132.9bn in 2022, increasing by 15.4% since 2021. GVA for all food and drink sectors increased in this period with catering increasing by 23.4%, manufacturing by 15.2%, retail by 2.3% and wholesale by 31.3%.
Longer term, the food chain GVA (excluding agriculture and fishing) increased by 50.8% between 2012 and 2022 while the whole economy increased by 70.0%.
The food chain has less scope for growth as there is a limit to consumer intake capacity but can look to make gains in its efficiency.
1.2 Trends in the Total Factor Productivity of the UK Food Chain, 2000 to 2022
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Accredited Official Statistic
Source: Total Factor Productivity of the United Kingdom Food Chain, Defra
Total factor productivity of the UK food chain beyond the farmgate rose by 2.0% between 2021 and 2022. Productivity in the wider economy increased by 2.6%.
The TFP of the UK food chain is an indicator of the efficiency and competitiveness of the food industry within the UK. However, there have been external factors at play in previous years, such as the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In 2022 three of the four food chain sectors had a higher productivity than in 2021. Manufacturing increased by 2.7%, wholesale increased by 2.4%, retail decreased by 0.6% and catering increased by 3.3%. The latter demonstrated a full recovery from the conditions faced during the height of the pandemic.
The calculation is based on reliable data on business sales and costs, employment by industry and on price indices all collected by the Office for National Statistics.
1.3 Agri-Food sector employees (GB), 2024
| Sector | Employees (millions) |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | 0.402 |
| Food and Drink Manufacturing | 0.447 |
| Food and Drink Wholesale | 0.207 |
| Food and Drink Retail | 1.078 |
| Food and Drink Non-Residential Catering | 2.019 |
| Total Food | 3.752 |
| Total Agri-Food | 4.153 |
Accredited Official Statistic
Source: Labour Market Statistics- Employee jobs by industry (ONS) & June Survey structure statistics (Defra).
Notes:
1. ‘Food’ includes non-alcoholic drinks. ‘Drink’ is alcoholic drinks.
2. Refer to the glossary for the Economic definition of Food and Agri-Food sector for the relevant SIC codes.
3. GB figures have more specific, divisional level data (3-digit SIC codes) to be able to specify employment within the food chain. Not available for Northern Ireland as it is not recorded in their equivalent survey: the Northern Ireland Quarterly Employment Survey (NISRA).
The food and drink sector in Great Britain (GB) employed 3.8 million people in 2024 (4.2 million if agriculture is included along with self-employed farmers), a 0.8% decrease on a year earlier. The sector accounted for 11.9% of GB employment in 2024 (13.2% if agriculture is included along with self-employed farmers). Employment across the whole GB economy rose by 0.7% between 2023 and 2024 (based on the total industries estimate from the same JOBS03 spreadsheet that covers SIC 2007 section A-T).
In the twelve months to December 2024, employment in the agri-food sector decreased by 0.9% or 37,000 jobs. Employment fell in 2024 in agriculture (1.9% or 8,000 jobs), but increased in manufacturing (1.0% or 5,000 jobs).
1.4 Number of UK food and drink manufacturers by business size, 2024
| Number of employees | Number of businesses |
|---|---|
| No employees (unregistered and registered) | 11,970 |
| Small (1-49) | 7,355 |
| Medium (50-249) | 760 |
| Large (250+) | 285 |
Source: Business Population Estimates (BPE), DBT
Notes:
1. The number of businesses were rounded in the data to avoid disclosure.
2. Businesses with no employees can either be ‘registered’ for either VAT or PAYE or are ‘unregistered’. A business may be VAT and/or PAYE registered and therefore appear on the government business register (the IDBR), or it may exist without being registered. Unregistered businesses are those businesses run by self-employed people that are not large enough to be VAT or PAYE registered and therefore will not appear on the IDBR.
There were approximately 20,085 small and medium enterprises (including no employees, small and medium) in the food and drink manufacturing sector. SMEs accounted for 98.6% of businesses in food and drink manufacturing.
1.5 GVA in the food and drink manufacturing sector in the UK regions and countries (£ billion), 2022
| Product | £ billion |
|---|---|
| North East | 0.55 |
| North West | 3.56 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 3.30 |
| East Midlands | 3.46 |
| West Midlands | 1.70 |
| East of England | 2.46 |
| London | 3.13 |
| South East | 1.88 |
| South West | 1.67 |
| Wales | 1.62 |
| Scotland | 4.44 |
| Northern Ireland | 1.16 |
Source: Annual Business Survey (ONS)
Accredited Official Statistic
Notes:
1. For disclosure reasons some small contributions (less than 4% overall) to food and drink manufacturing GVA were treated as zeros.
Within the English regions and other countries in the UK, Scotland had the highest GVA in the food and drink manufacturing sector at £4.44 billion in 2022, while Northern Ireland had the lowest GVA at £1.16 billion.
In England, the North West region had the highest GVA from the food and drink manufacturing sector at £3.56 billion, followed by the East Midlands at £3.46 billion. The North East had the lowest GVA at £0.55 billion in 2022 followed by the South West with £1.67 billion.
1.6 UK grocery market shares, 12 weeks ending on 23rd March 2025
| Retailer | % of market share |
|---|---|
| Tesco | 27.9 |
| Sainsbury’s | 15.2 |
| Asda | 12.5 |
| Aldi | 11.0 |
| Morrisons | 8.5 |
| Lidl | 7.8 |
| Co-op | 5.3 |
| Waitrose | 4.4 |
| Iceland | 2.2 |
| Ocado | 2.0 |
| Other Outlets | 1.9 |
| Symbols & Independent | 1.4 |
Source: Kantar Worldpanel.
Notes:
1. A comparable market share value is not provided for Marks and Spencer (M&S) as it does not fall under the definition of ‘grocers’ using the Till Roll methodology on which the Kantar Grocery Market Share release is based, due to there being a higher proportion of clothing and general merchandise in its sales mix.
The combined grocery market share of the largest four food and drink retailers was 66.6% in March 2025. Tesco continued to have the largest market share at 27.9%. The three largest discounters (Aldi, Lidl and Iceland) had a combined market share of 21.0%.
Data was previously from Defra’s Family Food Report (a module of ONS’s Living Costs and Food Survey, however the data above is from Kantar Worldpanel. Analysis of grocery market share over time using the same source can be found in Defra’s Food Security Report 2024.
The market share estimates from Kantar are updated more regularly although not restricted to foods and not as representative.
Kantar Worldpanel is a market research company, providing up to date statistics on sales by the grocery sector. Market shares also include sales of non-food.
1.7 UK Consumer expenditure on food, drink and catering at constant prices, 2003 to 2023
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Accredited Official Statistic
Source: Consumer trends, ONS & Chapter 14, Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Defra
Notes:
1. ‘Food’ includes non-alcoholic drinks’, ‘Drink’ is all alcoholic drinks.
After taking into account the effects of price rises (constant prices) consumers’ expenditure on food and alcoholic drinks decreased by 1.2% from £248.5bn in 2022 to £245.5bn in 2023 and was 14% higher than in 2013. Expenditure on food and drink eaten out increased by 0.6% from £116.9bn in 2022 to £117.6bn in 2023, whilst expenditure on household food decreased by 2.8% from £109.6bn to £106.5bn and expenditure on alcoholic drinks (off-licence only) decreased by 2.8% from £22.0bn to £21.3bn.
2. Prices and Expenditure
2.1 UK trend in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices in real terms (CPIH)
Trends in food and non-alcoholic beverage price inflation (CPIH) in real terms (previously reported in this section) have recently been calculated for the UK Food Security Report 2024 (and can be found here). Specifically calculated data in real terms shows how food prices have evolved once the impact of underlying, overall inflation is taken into account.
A monthly timeseries for food and non-alcoholic beverage prices at current prices is published by ONS.
2.2 UK food and non-alcoholic beverage prices measured by CPIH since 2020
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Source: Consumer Price Indices, (ONS)
The chart above shows that food price CPIH inflation is now less than overall inflation, having previously overtaken overall inflation in April 2022, becoming less in April 2024. Food and non-alcoholic beverages CPIH inflation peaked in March 2023 at 19.2% while overall CPIH inflation peaked in October 2022 at 9.6%.
Modelling commissioned by Defra shows that the five main drivers of food prices are farmgate prices, import prices, exchange rates, labour costs in food manufacturing and non-labour costs in food manufacturing.
Food price inflation rose sharply during that time period due to a combination of those factors - some of which were also exacerbated further by the conflict in Ukraine.
The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) is the most comprehensive measure of inflation. It extends the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to include a measure of the costs associated with owning, maintaining and living in one’s own home, known as owner occupiers’ housing costs (OOH), along with Council Tax. Both are significant expenses for many households that are excluded from the CPI.
2.3 Average share of spend on food and non-alcoholic drinks, by equivalised disposable income quintile group, in the UK, FYE 2005 to 2023
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Accredited Official Statistic
Source: ONS Family Spending in the UK
Notes:
1. In 2015, the ONS shifted its measurements from annual to financial years (FYE 2016 value covers from April 2015 until March of 2016).
In FYE 2023, an average household in the UK spent 11.2% of their expenditure on household food and non-alcoholic drink. The lowest 20% of households by disposable equivalised income spent 14.4%, compared to 8.5% for the richest 20% of households.
Between FYE 2020 and FYE 2023, there was an increase in the share of spend on food and non-alcoholic beverages drink from for the highest quintile, all households and the middle quintile (0.3%, 0.4% and 0.2% respectively); however, the lowest quintile (poorest 20% of households) saw a fall (0.3%).
The peak in FYE 2021 was due in part to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, with hospitality and leisure businesses temporarily closing, and travel restrictions imposed. This meant that with the proportion of peoples’ expenditure on these items reducing dramatically during lockdowns, the proportion spent on other categories, including household food, increased.
The relative affordability of food can be measured by the share of the household budget that is spent on it. Low income households tend to spend a higher than average proportion of their expenditure on essential categories such as food, housing and energy and a lower proportion of their expenditure on non-essential items.
Although the percentage of spend on food had been relatively constant, the actual amount spent, and the products purchased will change in response to relative prices.
2.4 Household income (after housing costs) and food prices in real terms (UK), 2022/23
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Source: Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK, 2021; Institute for Fiscal Studies,Consumer Price Indices, (ONS)
Between 2021/22 and 2022/23 weekly income after housing costs for low income households (5th percentile) fell by 5.2% (when adjusted for inflation), from £158.91 to £150.66, compared to median income which fell by 1.5% from £553.33 to £545.07. In the same year, income for high income households (95th percentile) rose by 2.2% from £1,425.86 to £1,457.25 per week. Food prices in real terms decreased by 5.9%. Between 2020/21 and 2021/22, weekly income for low income households rose by 6.7% (from £148.94 to £158.91) compared to median income which rose by 1.6% from £544.63 to £553.33. Income for high income households (95th percentile) rose by 0.8% from £1,414.71 to £1,425.86 per week. Food prices rose by 24% in the same year.
2.5 UK consumer price changes by food group, February 2024 to February 2025
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Source: Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) (ONS)
The chart above shows that food price CPIH inflation for all food and non-alcoholic beverage groups have risen in price in the year to February 2025 with rises ranging from 1.4% to 9.5%. Sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate and confectionery, oils and fats, coffee, tea and cocoa, mineral waters, soft drinks and juices and fruit constituted the five out of the eleven food and non-alcoholic beverage classes to provide significant upward contributions to the annual rate in the year to February 2025.
2.6 Value Sales of Organic Food and Drink, 2006 to 2024
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Source: Soil Association Certification Organic Market Report 2025
The organic food and drink sector generated around £3.7 billion in UK value sales in 2024, which was an increase of 7.3% from 2023. Independent retailers and major retail saw the largest growth in value sales of 9% and 8% respectively, with major retail sales reaching £2.4 billion.
The largest year on year increase in value sales was seen in 2020 when sales grew by 12.6%. The Soil Association Certification referenced in their 2022 report that the onset of the pandemic had potentially brought about a greater appreciation for food which coincided with the growth in organics sales. As people were at home more, this led to a greater number that began cooking from scratch, baking and growing their own food.
Despite 2024 being the 13th consecutive year of sector growth, organic farmland stayed static at just 3% of total UK farmland, so there remains a strong reliance on organic imports.
3. Global and UK supply
3.1 Origins of food consumed in the UK, 2023
| Origin of destination | 2023 |
|---|---|
| UK exports | -9% |
| UK | 58% |
| EU | 24% |
| Rest of Europe | 3% |
| Africa | 4% |
| Asia | 3% |
| Australasia | 1% |
| North America | 3% |
| South America | 4% |
Source: Chapter 14, Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Defra
Notes:
1. Based on the farm-gate value of raw food.
2. Consumption of UK origin consists of UK domestic production minus UK exports.
3. UK exports are given as a percentage of total UK consumption.
Supply includes domestic production plus imports and excludes exports of home production. Food security is enhanced by strong and consistent domestic production of food, combined with a diversity of supply sources, thereby avoiding overreliance on any one sourcea.
In 2023, 58% of domestic consumption came from UK production (based on unprocessed value at farmgate), 24% from the EU and the remaining 18% from the rest of the world. 33 countries accounted for 90% of imported supply, and 22 for 80%. Some countries or regions are uniquely important to supply of particular products such as bananas from the Caribbean and Central America, reducing the security of this supply.
a UK Food Security Report, 2024 (Defra).
3.2 UK Food production to supply ratio, 1956-2023
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Source: Chapter 14, Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Defra
The Food Production to Supply Ratio (commonly referred to as the “Self Sufficiency Ratio”), is calculated as the farmgate value of raw food production divided by the value of raw food for human consumption and is estimated to be 62% for all food in 2023 and 75% of indigenous type food. In 2022, this was 60% and 73% respectively.
3.3 Trends in UK food production and for all agricultural output, 2011 to 2023
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Accredited Official Statistic
Source: Chapter 7, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra & Chapter 8, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra
Notes:
1. 2023 figures are provisional.
Final outputb of UK agriculture is a proxy for UK food production. The volume of all outputs in 2023 fell by 5.0% to 102, compared to 107 in 2022.
Total UK cereal production has fluctuated, with significant dips linked to adverse weather conditions in those years. However, the most recent dip in 2020 reflected the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. 2023 cereal output fell by 9.5% due to lower yields compared to 2022.
Since 2011, production levels of poultry meat have been on a largely upward trend although this trend appears to have stabilised with recent years showing little variation in output. 2023 saw a fall of 0.8% compared to 2022.
Red meat (includes Beef, Lamb and Pig meat) saw a fall in the volume index of production of 6.4%. Most of the reduction was attributed to the pig sector which fell by 11%. Adverse weather conditions affecting the outdoor herd and lower carcase weights contributed to the fall in output.
b Figure came from the total volume estimates from underlying dataset of the Agricultural TFP.
3.4 UK trade in different food groups, 2023
| 2023 | exports £ billion | imports £ billion |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit & veg | 1.0 | 13.2 |
| Meat | 2.0 | 8.2 |
| Beverages | 8.5 | 7.7 |
| Cereals | 2.8 | 6.6 |
| Coffee, tea, cocoa, etc. | 1.6 | 5.1 |
| Fish | 1.7 | 3.5 |
| Misc | 2.4 | 4.3 |
| Dairy & eggs | 2.1 | 4.0 |
| Animal feed | 1.2 | 3.5 |
| Oils | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Sugar | 0.4 | 2.0 |
Source: HMRC
Notes:
1. 2023 figures are provisional.
In 2023, the value of imports was greater than the value of exports in each of the broad categories of food, feed and drink except ‘Beverages’ which had a trade surplus of £822 million, largely due to exports of Scotch Whisky. Beverages are the largest export category by far with an export value of £8.5 bn in 2023, down by 8% on 2022. Cereals is the second largest export group with a value of £2.8 bn, followed by the dairy & eggs category at around £2.1 bn (excluding the miscellaneous category). ‘Fruit and vegetables’ have the largest trade deficit. In 2023 imports were £13.2 bn while exports were worth £1.0 bn, giving a trade gap of £12.2 bn. The second largest groups in terms of imports in 2023 were meat and beverages with imports of £8.2 and £7.7 bn respectively.
3.5 Trend in exports of food, feed and drink at 2023 prices, 2000 to 2023
| Year | £ billion |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 16.1 |
| 2001 | 15.1 |
| 2002 | 15.9 |
| 2003 | 16.8 |
| 2004 | 16.8 |
| 2005 | 17.1 |
| 2006 | 17.7 |
| 2007 | 18.9 |
| 2008 | 19.6 |
| 2009 | 20.2 |
| 2010 | 22.0 |
| 2011 | 23.5 |
| 2012 | 23.5 |
| 2013 | 23.3 |
| 2014 | 24.8 |
| 2015 | 26.1 |
| 2016 | 26.4 |
| 2017 | 26.6 |
| 2018 | 27.4 |
| 2019 | 28.9 |
| 2020 | 26.4 |
| 2021 | 24.5 |
| 2022 | 27.5 |
| 2023 | 24.4 |
Source: HMRC
Notes:
1. 2023 figures are provisional.
2. Prices adjusted by ONS implied deflators.
In 2023, the value of food, feed and drink exports was £24.4bn, a decrease of 11% on 2022. In 2023 the value of food, feed and drink imports decreased by 8.8% to £61.1bn in real terms, resulting in the trade gap or trade deficit in food, feed and drink of £36.7bn in real terms, a decrease of 7.1% since 2022.
3.6 World agricultural commodity prices for cereals index 100=2024, January 1960 to February 2025
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Source: World Bank, PPIACO
3.7 World agricultural commodity prices for chicken and beef index 100=2024, January 1960 to February 2025
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Source: World Bank, PPIACO
Notes:
1. By indexing and having each plot on the same scale, this enables comparisons of the volatility between commodities.
4. Food Security
The United Kingdom Food Security Report sets out an analysis of statistical data relating to food security, fulfilling the duty in the Agriculture Act 2020 to present a report on food security to Parliament at least once every three years. The UKFSR examines past, current, and predicted trends relevant to food security to present the best available understanding of food security at the time of publication.
The second UKFSR was published in December 2024, and the next report is due to be published by the end of 2027. The statistics in the UKFSR are from many sources, some of which are kept up to date here.
4.1 Global One Health Index – Food Security, 2023
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Source: Global One Health Index - Food Security (Gu et al, 2023)
Notes:
1. GOHI-FS is currently a one-off piece of analysis so does not consider any long-term trends.
2. Most of the data used was from international authoritative agencies but the missing data rate was 19.4%, which may pose a challenge to precisely evaluating the performance of food security in those countries or territories.
The Global One Health Index-Food Security (GOHI-FS) examined the close links and inter-dependence of the health of humans, animals and the environment, particularly in the context of the sustainability of food systems. It gave a global overview of food systems from a One Health perspective based on 5 categories; food demand and supply, food safety, nutrition, natural and social circumstances, and government support and resources.
GOHI-FS enabled comparison to be made across countries. Lower scores indicate that food systems are weaker in these countries.
North America showed on average better performance than other regions across all five dimensions of the GOHI-FS, while sub-Saharan Africa had a low overall performance across these dimensions. Europe and North America performed better in food supply and demand than other regions. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia had low scores on food safety with a high burden of foodborne illness, whereas Europe, Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific had higher scores, which could be related to more effective surveillance systems in these regions. However, all regions performed poorly on government support and regulations relative to the other categories and only 29 out of 147 countries in the index score higher than 40 across all 5 categories.
4.2 Global meat production, 1961-2023
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Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
In 2023 around 350 million tonnes of meat was produced, an increase of 8.9% or 29 million tonnes higher than 2020. This was driven by a rebound in pigmeat production, which saw negligible growth between 2010 and 2020, following the recovery from African Swine Fever in Asia. The production of poultry meat surpassed pigmeat in 2016 globally to become the most produced source of meat. In 2023, poultry meat accounted for 41% of the total meat production.
4.3 Origins of fresh vegetables and fruit consumed in the UK, 2023
| Region | Fresh Vegetables | Fresh Fruit |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 53% | 16% |
| EU | 39% | 27% |
| RoW | 10% | 58% |
Source: Chapter 7, Agriculture in the United Kingdom (AUK), Defra
Dataset: AUK Table 7.8 & AUK Table 7.11
53% of fresh vegetables consumed in the UK were produced domestically in 2023. 92% of domestic consumption of fresh vegetables was fulfilled by domestic and EU production in 2023, reflecting the importance of geographical proximity for importing fresh produce. The origin of fresh fruit consumed in the UK is more diverse than it is for vegetables, with only 16% by volume produced domestically whereas 27% and 58% was sourced from the EU and the Rest of the World respectively in 2023. This reflects UK consumer demand for tropical and out-of-season fruit which cannot be sourced domestically or from Europe.
4.4 Energy demand by energy type in agriculture and the food and drink manufacturing sector, 2023
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Accredited Official Statistic
Sources: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, DBT
UKFSR Indicator 3.1.2 Energy dependency in the food sector, Figure 3.1.2b
Energy demand in agriculture remains heavily reliant on non-renewables. Fuel types such as petroleum products continue to meet the majority of energy needs. Petroleum products consist of burning oil used for drying of crops and heating and gas oil (commonly known as red diesel) used to power non-road machinery. A small amount of propane is used mainly for heating (most commonly on poultry farms). In the food and drink manufacturing sector, demand changes have varied across different energy sources. Natural gas remains the main energy source for food and drink manufacturing. Usage declined from 2017 to 2022 and increased in 2023.
4.5 UK household food security status, FYE 2020 to FYE 2024
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Source: Family Resources Survey, DWP
Notes:
1. Due to certain rounding in DWP data, some percentage values do not sum to 100%.
90% of households in the UK were food secure in 2023/24, unchanged from the previous year. 10% of households were food insecure. Of those, 5% had low food security while the other 5% had very low food security. Since 2019/20, the food security of households in the UK has decreased slightly, from 92% being food secure in 2019/20.
4.6 Household food bank usage in the UK, FYE 2023 to FYE 2024
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Accredited Official Statistic
Source: Family Resources Survey, DWP
3.6% of households in the UK used a foodbank in the last 12 months in 2023/24, increasing from 3.3% in 2022/23.
There was a similar increase between 2022/23 and 2023/24 in households’ use of foodbanks in the last 30 days, increasing from 1.4% to 1.5% respectively.
4.7 Most common prompted food-related concerns (Food and You 2, Wave 9), April 2024 to July 2024
| Type of concern | Percentage of respondents % |
|---|---|
| Food prices | 69 |
| Food waste | 58 |
| The quality of food | 57 |
| The amount of sugar in food | 57 |
| The amount of food packaging | 55 |
| Being able to eat healthily | 52 |
| Animal welfare | 52 |
| Food hygiene when eating out | 50 |
| Food hygiene when ordering takeaways | 49 |
| Food poisoning | 48 |
Source: Food and You 2: Wave 9, FSA
Most respondents in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (79%) had no concerns about the food they eat. However, in a separate question, respondents were asked to indicate if they had concerns about several food-related issues from a list of given options. The most common concerns amongst consumers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland were food prices (69%), food waste (58%) and the quality of food (57%).
Food prices did not feature in the list of concerns in Wave 3 of this survey (April 2021 to June 2021). However, it has since risen to the top in the face of higher food inflation rates (see Figure 2.2). Food packaging did not feature in the top ten list of concerns in Wave 5 of the report but now features at fifth.
Glossary
Economic definition of food and agri-food sector
The UK food sector is defined as food manufacturing, food wholesale, food retail and non- residential catering. In terms of the standard industrial classification (SIC 2007) it is defined as:
| Category | SIC codes |
|---|---|
| Food and Drink Manufacturing | 10 + 11 |
| Food and Drink Wholesale | 46.3 (excluding 46.35) + 46.17 |
| Food and Drink Retail | 47.2 (excluding 47.26) + 47.11 + 47.81 |
| Non-Residential Catering | 56 |
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In SIC2007 the food manufacturing sector comprises of nine main categories including processing and preserving meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables, oils, bread, biscuits and cakes, and confectionery. Animal feed manufacturing is included, covering both farm animal feed and pet food, and representing 7.5% of total turnover in food and drink manufacturing in 2020. The drink manufacturing sector includes alcoholic beverages and soft drinks and mineral waters.
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Food and drink wholesale consists of the buying, storage and reselling of food either manufactured or freshly produced. Wholesale of tobacco products (46.35) is not included, but SIC code 46.17 "Agents involved in the sale of food, beverages and tobacco" is included. This group includes wholesalers that trade on behalf of others on a fee or contract basis and their turnover was 5% of that of 46.3 "wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco" in 2020.
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Food and drink retail is defined as the sale of food within both non-specialised stores (e.g. supermarkets), 47.11, and specialised stores such as butchers and bakers, 47.11 and 47.81. The sale of tobacco products value is subtracted from the specialised stores value using 47.26 and then subsequently subtracted from the non-specialised stores value using a ratio for food and drink.
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Non-residential catering (NRC) consists of restaurants and bars involved in preparation and serving of food, alongside canteens and catering services. Hotels are not included.
The deductions are to remove non-food items as far as possible.
The agri-food sector is the food sector plus agriculture. Agriculture is shown in several charts for comparison.
Sectoral breakdown of Food Manufacturing
| Sector | SIC Codes |
|---|---|
| Meat and meat products | 10.1 |
| Fish and crustaceans | 10.2 |
| Fruit and vegetables | 10.3 |
| Oils and fats | 10.4 |
| Dairy products | 10.5 |
| Grain and starch products | 10.6 |
| Bakery | 10.7 |
| Other food products | 10.8 |
| Prepared animal feeds | 10.9 |
| Beverages | 11 |
Gross Value Added (GVA)
GVA is the difference between output and intermediate consumption for any given sector / industry. This is the difference between the value of goods and services produced and the cost of raw materials and other inputs which are used up in production.
Total Factor Productivity (TFP)
Productivity measures the efficiency at which inputs are converted into outputs. Total Factor Productivity provides a comprehensive picture of growth.
Equivalised income
The income a household needs to attain a given standard of living will depend on its size and composition. Equivalisation is a means of adjusting a household’s income for size and composition so that the incomes of all households are on a comparable basis.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Outside of these statistics, the definition of a SME can depend upon several factors, including turnover. For these statistics, a ‘small’ business is a private sector business with fewer than 50 employees. A ‘medium’ business is a private sector business with between 50 and 249 employees. Businesses with no employees are also included separately and come under SMEs.
Standard Industry Classification codes (SIC codes)
These are numerical codes that categorise the industries that companies belong to based on their business activities.