The average food bill for a UK household saw a £210 rise within the last two years as a result of Brexit, a recent study found.
According to the research by the London School of Economics, consumers paid £5.8 billion in additional grocery costs during the two years to the end of 2021.
Following Brexit, food prices rose by 6% and low-income households were hardest hit by these soaring costs, the study found.
“Many factors, affecting both supply and demand for goods and services, are involved. One factor in this high inflation has been the rise in non-tariff barriers for trade with the EU,” study co-author and professor at the University of Bristol, Richard Davies said.
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“In leaving the EU, the UK swapped a deep trade relationship with few impediments to trade for one where a wide range of checks, forms and steps are required before goods can cross the border.”
Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s former CEO Justin King claimed that rising inflation and soaring food prices “started with Brexit” in an interview on Sky News.
King said: “Well in excess of 40 per cent of our food comes from Europe, so it started with Brexit, Covid exacerbated the problems and of course the war in Ukraine and the particular impact it is having on certain commodities… will be long lasting and significant.”
This comes as new research by Wrap found that Brexit and Covid-19 also contributed towards a 100,000-tonne surge in food waste in the UK.
In an update to the industry’s Food Waste Roadmap, 140 UK producers and manufacturers found overall edible waste decreased by 13,900 tonnes or 1.4% in 2021 compared with previous years.
