What Is Average Monthly Food Bill for Family of 4

According to information from the Office of National Statistics, the average United kingdom household spends £3,312 on groceries and £i,716 on restaurants and takeaways every yr. As a result, in 2019 UK households spent 16% of their budgets on food and not-alcoholic drinks. Some other three% of budgets went to alcohol, which you tin read more about in our related commodity Average Spending on Alcohol in the UK.

In this written report we'll show the breakup of household home food budgets per week and per calendar month across food categories, typical amounts spent eating out and finally how food & beverage budgets change with income levels and family unit sizes. Nutrient prices in the UK rose once again last yr, making this an important budget category.

Delight notation that these figures reflect average amounts really spent co-ordinate to the ONS survey, they are not recommendations almost how much you should spend. Food spending varies a LOT from one household to some other based on factors similar income, size and makeup of the household, the food you lot purchase and other factors. You lot can get a sense of this past viewing the poll results further down in the commodity.

• Food prices are ascent, only by how much?
• How much do households spend on food?
  • Boilerplate weekly food bill
  • NEW POLL: How much practice you spend on food each calendar week?
  • Average monthly food nib
  • FAQs
• Grocery spending
• Eatery and takeaway spending
• How is food spending unlike past income level?

Rise in Food Prices

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

We've analysed recent data from the Office for National Statistics and found that food prices rose iv.5% in the 12 months from January 2021 to January 2022. Oils and fats rose the near, up a whopping 15.9%, followed by fruit (+six.9%) and milk, cheese and eggs (+v.7%). You tin can run into more detail in the table below. Fresh, seasonal foods are generally up more than candy foods, which is perhaps non a surprise given supply concatenation bug could bear upon fresh food ship more.

And if you'd similar fifty-fifty more detail (eastward.chiliad. cost rises for individual items like flour, instant coffee, tomatoes, beef roasting joints, roasting chickens, etc.) please permit u.s. know in the comments section at the lesser and we can add those to the tabular array too. Nosotros're wary of adding besides much particular, but it can be useful to know that tomatoes and instant coffee are up 10.5% in the past 12 months alone, for case.

Rise in Nutrient Prices (% modify over 12 months)		January 2021 to Jan 2022
Nutrient and Non-alcoholic Beverages		iv.4%
Food		4.5%
	Oils & fats	xv.nine%
	Fruit	6.9%
	Milk, cheese and eggs	5.7%
	Seasonal food	5.iii%
	Non-processed nutrient	four.7%
	Vegetables (including potatoes and tubers)	4.5%
	Processed nutrient & not-alcoholic beverages	iv.0%
	Meat	3.9%
	Bread & cereals	3.6%
	Fish	ii.9%
	Sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate and confectionery	2.ii%
Non-alcoholic Beverages		3.2%
	Coffee, tea & cocoa	4.nine%
	Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	3.3%
	Mineral waters, soft drinks and juices	2.five%
Alcoholic Beverages		1.4%
	Wine	2.nine%
	Spirits	0.two%
	Beer	0.ii%

Average Nutrient Costs

The average annual food cost for a typical Uk household was around £5,028 in 2020 (based on the average 2.iv people per household), including £276 spent on not-alcoholic drinks. The average weekly food cost for the typical Uk household is £97, upward around 3% from 2019. (Annotation: for the purposes of this article, "food" includes non-alcoholic drinks but not alcoholic drinks.) Nutrient cost as a per centum of the average United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland household budget has remained steady for over fifteen years.

On boilerplate, nosotros spend about two thirds of our food upkeep on meals and snacks prepared and eaten at dwelling house, and nosotros spend i tertiary of our food costs on eating out. That is, households spend on average £3,312 a year on nutrient for home (about the same every bit the cost to run a car) and £1,716 on takeaways, restaurants, cafés, snacks, etc.

Average Uk Food Spend, Annual and Weekly

		Per Person^	Per Household (avg. 2.4 people)
Weekly	Food at Home	£26.5	£64
	Nutrient Out (e.g., restaurants, take away, etc.)	£13.viii	£33
	Total	£40.three	£97
Per Year	Nutrient at Home	£1,380	£3,312
	Food Out (east.g., restaurants, take away, etc.)	£715	£1,716
	Full	£two,095	£v,028

^ Note, the 'per person' effigy is averaged over men, women and children of all ages. Obviously, caloric needs vary. For example, a young, active man would have much college caloric needs and would therefore spend more on nutrient than, say, a typical woman or child. Meet more item on foods costs by gender and age below.

How Much nosotros Spend per Year on Food at Domicile vs. Exterior the Domicile

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

Average Nutrient Costs per Calendar week

• Per Person: The boilerplate weekly food shop is £26.5 per person in the UK—but clearly caloric needs vary by age and gender. When yous add together £13.8 spent on nutrient prepared out (e.g., restaurants and takeaways), the average weekly nutrient bill for 1 person is £xl.3.
• Average Adult Homo: The boilerplate adult male spends effectually £32 on groceries, £17 on food out and £49 altogether on food each week.
• Young, agile developed man: A young, active adult man effectually 18 years of historic period whose caloric needs are 50% higher than the boilerplate person would theoretically spend effectually £60 a week on food (£40 οn groceries and £21 out).
• Average Adult Woman: The boilerplate adult female person theoretically spends around £25 on groceries, £13 on food out and £37 altogether on food each week.
• Young, agile developed woman: A young, active adult woman around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 13% higher than the boilerplate person would theoretically spend effectually £46 a calendar week on food (£thirty οn groceries and £xvi out).
• 2 Adults: The average weekly food bill for 2 adults would be around £86 in full—£57 spent on the weekly food shop and £29 spent on food out.
• Family of 3: The average weekly nutrient pecker for a family of iii (two adults and one younger child) is effectually £119—£78 spent on the weekly food store and £41 spent on food out.
• Family unit of 4: The typical family of 4 (two adults and ii younger children) would spend around £151 each week on food—£99 on the weekly store and £52 on eating house and takeaway meals.
• Family unit of 5: Larger families of 5 (two adults and three younger children) spend around £121 on the weekly shop and another £63 on food prepared out, bringing the full average food bill for a family of 5 to £183.
• Family of three adults: Three adults (or two adults and i older teenager) would spend effectually £85 on groceries, £44 on food prepared out and £129 birthday on nutrient each week, clearly with upkeep varying by the age and gender of the family members.

Average Cost of Food per Week	Grocery Shopping	Eating Nutrient Prepared Out	Total Food Bill
Per Person	£26.five	£13.eight	£twoscore.3
Immature, active developed male person	£39.8	£20.half dozen	£60.4
Boilerplate adult male person	£32.3	£sixteen.vii	£49.0
Young, active developed female	£30.i	£fifteen.5	£45.6
Average adult female	£24.vi	£12.7	£37.3
Average child	£21.3	£11.0	£32.three
2 adults (1 man + ane adult female)	£56.viii	£29.4	£86.three
ii adults + 1 child	£78.1	£twoscore.5	£118.6
2 adults + two children	£99.4	£51.5	£150.9
2 adults + iii children	£120.vii	£62.5	£183.3
3 adults	£85.3	£44.ii	£129.4

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

Poll: How Much do You Spend on Food Each Week?

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

Average Nutrient Costs per Month

• Per Person: The average monthly food budget in the UK 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 Human being: The boilerplate developed male would spend around £140 on groceries, £72 on food out and £212 altogether on food each month.
• Immature, active adult man: A young, active adult man around 18 years of historic period whose caloric needs are 50% college than the average person would theoretically spend effectually £262 a month on nutrient (£173 οn groceries and £89 out).
• Average Adult Woman: The average developed female would spend around £107 on groceries, £55 on food out and £162 altogether on food each month.
• Young, active developed woman: A young, agile adult adult female around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 13% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £198 a month on nutrient (£130 οn groceries and £67 out).
• 2 Adults: The full food budget for 2 adults in the UK is twice this, or £374 per month—£246 on groceries and £128 on eating out.
• Family of 3 The average food pecker for a family of 3 (with two adults and one younger kid) in the United kingdom is around £514 per month—£339 of which is spent grocery shopping and £175 on takeaways and restaurants, and other eating out.
• Family unit of iv: The average Britain family of 4 (2 adults and two younger children) spends £654 in total on nutrient each 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 month on groceries and another £271 on nutrient prepared out, bringing the full average food nib for a family of 5 to effectually £794.
• Family of 3 adults: Three adults (or two adults and an older teenage child) would spend effectually £369 on groceries, £191 on food prepared out and £561 altogether on food each month, clearly with budget varying by the historic period 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 betoken. We provide them to give a rough idea of what people typically spend. Your budget might (demand to) be different.

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

Average Food Cost per Calendar month UK

FAQs

When deciding how much you should spend on food, it can assist to know that a person'southward average spend on nutrient in the United kingdom is £40.thirty per calendar week or £175 per month, including groceries, takeaways and restaurants. However food needs vary by age and gender and then will food budgets—for example, an active young man can fire 50% more than calories than the average person and would therefore spend more on nutrient. Food consumes around 19% of a typical household's budget (more than nosotros spend on housing!). Most people spend 2/3 of this food budget on groceries and the other one/3 on eating food prepared out.

The average spend on nutrient per person is £40.30 per week (£175 per month), including groceries and eating out—across all ages and genders. The average weekly food shop for 1 is £26.v in the UK, plus we spend some other £13.8 on eating out or ordering takeaways each week. But men consume more nutrient and women less, so the average developed male person spends around £49 a week (£212 a month) while women spend around £37 a week (£162 a month).

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

The average monthly food budget for a family of iii with two adults and i younger child nether the age of 15 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 unit of 3 in the Britain costs £78.

The boilerplate monthly nutrient nib for a family of 4 in the UK is £654; £431 of this is spent on groceries and £223 is spent on food prepared out of the house. The boilerplate weekly grocery bill for a family of iv in the Great britain is £99.

Average UK Household Budget for Food at Dwelling is £3,312

We honey our processed meat, the category that takes the biggest bite out of our household food budget. We spend a whopping 12% of our habitation food budget, or £385 a year, on sausages, bacon, ham and other processed meats. We spend a impact more than on fresh fruit (£208/twelvemonth, including £78 on berries alone) than we exercise on cakes, buns and biscuits (£213/twelvemonth). Nosotros as well spend more on fresh vegetables (£234/year) than we do on cakes and biscuits!

Non-alcoholic drinks is another large part of our nutrient budget, consuming £276 a yr, by and large on soft drinks. The categories that brand upwards the largest proportions of the typical Britain food budget at home would exist familiar to most households. Proceed in mind these are averages, so spending £0.thirty a calendar week on jam would exist like ownership one £0.ninety jar of jam every three weeks, for example.

Household Budget: Food at Home	Weekly Boilerplate	Annual Average
Sausages, etc.	£6.60	£343
Breadstuff, rice and cereals	£v.80	£302
Non-alcoholic drinks	£5.30	£276
Fresh vegetables	£4.50	£234
Fresh Fruit	£4.00	£208
Buns, cakes, biscuits, etc.	£four.10	£213
Fish	£3.twenty	£166
Other sauces, herbs, etc.	£two.lxxx	£146
Potatoes and other tubers	£two.50	£130
Poultry	£2.40	£125
Yoghurt, etc	£two.30	£120
Milk	£2.10	£109
Cheese	£2.20	£114
Beefiness	£1.ninety	£99
Chocolate	£2.30	£120
Dried or frozen vegetables	£two.ten	£109
Frozen, preserved & dried fruits and nuts	£ane.60	£83
Butter, margarine, cooking oils, etc.	£1.50	£78
Salary and ham	£0.fourscore	£42
Pastry (savoury)	£1.00	£52
Confectionery products	£0.80	£42
Eggs	£0.eighty	£42
Pork	£0.50	£26
Lamb	£0.70	£36
Edible ices and ice cream	£0.70	£36
Pasta	£0.50	£26
Sugar	£0.forty	£21
Jams	£0.30	£sixteen
Total Spend: Household Food at Home	£63.70	£3,312

Average Uk Household Budget for Nutrient Outside the Dwelling house 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 £i,050 a yr. Takeaways, snacks and other food out costs the boilerplate household £666 per twelvemonth.

Household Upkeep: Food Spend Outside the Dwelling house	Weekly Average	Annual Average
Restaurant and café meals	£twenty.2	£one,050
Take away meals eaten at home	£five.6	£291
Other take-away and snack food	£v.three	£276
Canteens & Catering	£ane.9	£99
Total Spend: Household Food Outside the Home	£33.0	£ane,716

How Does Food & Beverage Spending Vary beyond Income Groups?

The highest earning households with disposable (after-tax) incomes over £72,000 per year spend 3 times every bit much per twelvemonth on nutrient and alcoholic drinks compared to the everyman earning families with incomes under £11,650.

Relative to average, lower earning households spend a significant amount more of their food budget on processed meats and milk. The highest earning households spend a significant corporeality 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 upkeep on food and drinks: 21%. We all need to eat and this budget expanse tin can only be cut and so much. Equally a result, a higher percentage of dispensable income must go towards the food upkeep for the everyman earners.

Weekly Food Budgets Increasing with Rising Incomes

Wealthier families spend a greater proportion of their total food and beverage upkeep—44%—on food and potable away from home, which includes restaurant meals and takeaways. Those on smaller budgets tend to save money by eating at habitation more, spending 75% of their food 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 Beverage Budgets Spent Dining Out

In terms of actual spending, you can see how weekly food and drinkable budgets increase as dispensable incomes rise. The wealthier dine out more, the budget-constricted eat at dwelling more.

Average Weekly Food & Potable Spending (at dwelling and out) past Disposable Income Grouping

Shortcomings

To summate food costs per person and for dissimilar household sizes, we had to take into account the unlike caloric needs of people of different ages and genders. For example, a young, agile male would fire around three,200 worth of food a day while a typical 5-year-old child would burn only 1,400 a twenty-four hours. And the more food you eat, the more information technology costs you.

To estimate these figures, we outset calculated the weighted average caloric needs of the Britain population, and divided the average spending for a household by the average number of people in a household (two.4) to go a per (boilerplate) person food budget. Then we 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 up the people in a household to find the upkeep for different families. See below for an instance of our calculations. Calorie need figures were sourced here.

	Average caloric needs	Difference from average	Weekly food shop	Weekly cost of food prepared out	Average food costs per calendar week
Per Person	ii,128	0%	£26.vii	£xiii.8	£40.42
Adult Male (historic period 16+)	2,586	22%	£32.three	£16.7	£48.96
Young, agile male	3,200	50%	£39.viii	£20.half-dozen	£60.44
Developed Female (Historic period 16+)	1,971	-seven%	£24.6	£12.seven	£37.33
Young, agile female	2,400	13%	£30.one	£xv.5	£45.58
Child (ages 2 - 15)	1,707	-twenty%	£21.three	£eleven.0	£32.33

While this attempts to take into business relationship dissimilar food needs for family unit members of different ages and genders, please keep in listen that these are estimates. And the calculations don't have into account savings that larger families tin accomplish past buying in majority, or that some families are a lot more budget conscious than others. If you have people in your family who eat less (due east.1000., a really pocket-sized child) or are an efficient shopper who is careful with prices and takes advantage of sales or buying in bulk (e.m., to feed a large family) then keep this in mind when comparing your own spending to the figures presented here.

Cheap Eats: How to Save on Food

Whatsoever your nutrient budget, you tin can probably borrow some tips from thrifty households to reduce costs down fifty-fifty further. Endeavor to work these methods into your family's food plan.

1. Melt at home

It does take more time, but cooking and eating at home tin can save loads of money over the long run. Consider that the actual 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 eating place goes to other costs like labor and overhead. If you cook at home, you only pay the food price, and pocket the rest. Team upward with your partner, child or a friend to create great food and memories.

2. Stock up on staples

Purchase large. Packages, that is. Stores usually accuse less per unit (kg, litre, etc.) when y'all buy more at a fourth dimension. This means that a 2 kg bag of rice will toll less per kilo than a 0.5 kg bag of rice. If y'all live near a warehouse shop like Costco, consider becoming a member. At that place you'll have a better chance of finding the largest food packages (east.g., American sizes).

3. Swap pricey proteins or goods for cheaper ones

Ground beef costs less per pound than steaks. Chicken thighs cost less than chicken breasts (and are juicier!). Include lots of dried beans into your meals to add together poly peptide and fill your family. Be on the expect out for discounted nutrient that the grocery store needs to sell that solar day due to an impending expiration appointment—simply be sure to cook it ASAP!

Another manner to reduce your food budget is by taking a expect at your nonalcoholic beverages spend. The boilerplate UK family spends a whopping 8% of their at-home food upkeep on coffee, tea, juices, mineral/sparkling water and sodas. While we'd never suggest eliminating your daily cuppa (java and tea aren't the budget problem anyway), there is really no room for soda, juice and fancy water in a tight budget. We have 2 words for you: tap h2o.

If yous don't similar the gustation of the life-saving liquid that flows plentifully from your tap, endeavor squeezing in some lemon or boiling information technology into tea. We try to keep a pitcher of homemade iced herbal tea in the fridge—tastes great, inexpensive and has no saccharide or sugar substitutes. Buying cappuccino at chains like Starbucks or Costa everyday, while convenient, tin can hands full £1,000 a twelvemonth, based on our calculations. Instant coffee with a nuance of cinnamon or chocolate on top is an easy and impressive alternative.

Nutrient and drink may be necessary for life, merely a few small tweaks can assist you spend less on them.

Food Budgeting

In addition to the steps above, if y'all're struggling with the budget information technology can exist handy to accept a deep swoop 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 nutrient items like takeaways or coffee-store coffee. For instance, spending £xl 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 will cost less than half the cost.

To sympathise your food spending you tin sit down with pen and paper and go through your banking company statements and credit card bills in one case a month. Alternatively, in that location are a number of handy tech resources at our disposal these days.

For example, Money Dashboard is a personal finance app where you can easily view all your accounts and rail your spending by category—they have split up pre-set up categories including 'groceries' and 'food & drink', which tracks money spent eating out. Money Dashboard is rated 4.9 out of 5 stars by existing customers and is free to use. Budgeting apps like this (in that location are a number of them in the market) can be a dandy resource if you're watching your spending.

Comparing Food Spend to Other Areas of the Budget

While food is clearly a large budget particular, in that location are a few categories that take an even larger bite of the average annual household budget. The average UK household also spends over £four,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 boilerplate Uk household spent another £1,360 per year on gas and electricity in 2019. The price to light, heat and run our homes accounts for close to 5% of our household budgets each year.

If your household buys in bulk to save money and keeps a large store of food in the freezer, specially expensive items similar meat, you might want to check your home insurance policy to run across if freezer contents are covered. Policies that include freezer food will reimburse you upward to a certain corporeality (e.chiliad., £ane,000) if, for instance, you lose the contents of your freezer due to an electrical failure or your freezer breaking downward.

Notation: Updated in March 2021 to reverberate the about recent 2020 Living Costs and Food Survey from the ONS.

Sources:

Office of National Statistics Household size from the Role of National Statistics

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Source: https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-cost-food

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