96% of UK Households Report Food Shop Price Rises as Inflation Hits 18-Month High

Nearly all UK households reported that the price of their food shop rose last month, as food inflation helped lift wider consumer prices to an 18-month high, according to Office for National Statistics data published on Sept. 11, 2025.

The ONS said 96 percent of households experienced an increase in the cost of their food shop, the highest proportion in two years. The same data showed 55 percent of households reported increases in gas or electricity bills in the past month — the lowest reading since September last year — though the regulator has signalled a rise in the energy price cap next month.

Manufacturers and some industry commentators pointed to multiple drivers of food and drink inflation, including higher energy and ingredient costs and a new packaging tax. Some businesses have also attributed part of the rise to an increase in employer National Insurance introduced by the Labour government, saying firms are passing higher labour costs on to consumers.

Overall consumer price index inflation was 3.8 percent in July, the ONS data showed, a level that the Bank of England says could climb to about 4 percent this year. The figure places Britain among the higher-inflation advanced economies and marks the strongest upward pressure on prices in a year and a half.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey last week said there was "considerably more doubt" about the timing of further interest rate cuts amid renewed inflationary pressures. In response to the latest data, some market analysts revised expectations for monetary policy: HSBC economists now predict there will be no further Bank rate cuts until April 2026.

Energy costs are set to add further pressure on household bills. The energy price cap, which is set by the regulator, is due to rise next month. Regulators have pointed to rising costs associated with balancing supply and demand on the grid — including payments to wind farms to curtail output when generation exceeds transmission capacity — as a factor behind the increase.

The ONS household responses are part of a broader picture of Britain’s cost-of-living squeeze, coming after months of volatile food price movements. Retailers and food manufacturers have reported that higher wholesale prices, supply-chain pressures and environmental levies such as the packaging tax have all contributed to consumer-facing price rises.

Household surveys that feed into ONS measures capture consumer experiences of price changes and complement official price index calculations. Economists said the near-universal reporting of higher food-shop costs underscored the persistence of inflationary pressures in everyday spending, even as some measures of energy inflation briefly eased earlier in the year.

Policymakers face a balancing act between supporting a still-recovering economy and containing inflation. The latest ONS figures are likely to inform deliberations at the Bank of England and shape fiscal and regulatory discussions in Whitehall in the months ahead. Market responses to the data included upward revisions to the outlook for interest rates and renewed scrutiny of sectors most exposed to input-cost pressures, such as food and energy.

The ONS release follows a pattern of monthly updates that analysts and ministers watch closely for signs of whether inflation is returning to the Bank of England’s 2 percent target. For consumers, the immediate effect is visible in weekly shopping trips and forthcoming changes to energy bills when the regulator adjusts the cap next month.