The cost of a shopping basket has risen almost 37% in the five years since the Coronavirus lockdown, with eggs rising over 84%, new research has revealed.
This month marks half a decade since the first lockdown in the UK delivered a major jolt to the global economy, which was the prelude for the huge rise in inflation.
Now research from investment platform Saxo shows just how much the public have been hit in the pocket as the knock-on effects of the pandemic on the UK’s finances continue to bite hard.
The cost of a standard food basket, including staples such as eggs, milk, cheese, tea and bread, cost around £20.16 in March 2020, when the inflation rate sat at 1.5%.
Now, that same basket will set you back around £7.44 more, with inflation currently sitting at 3.0%. However, the biggest rise is across eggs, in 2020 it would have cost you just 79p for a dozen eggs, today that same pack is £1.46, an 84.7% rise.
Milk is 51% more expensive at 65p-a-pint – but had the price just risen solely in line with inflation over the five years it should only be costing 54p (approx 24.5% cumulative inflation).
Dan Squires, head of Sales at Saxo UK said, “This persistent food price inflation and impact on day to day living costs, helps to illustrate the attraction of investing in equity markets rather than cash savings.
“As an example, the S&P 500 index has generated an average return over the last 5 years of 16% per annum. It is somewhat of a mystery why so many people choose cash ISAs which haven’t kept up with stocks and shares.”
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