Brexit added £5.8bn to UK food bills in two years, study finds
Brexit has added almost £6bn to UK food bills in the two years to the end of 2021, researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) have found.
The study found that an average of £210 was added to a family’s food bill over two years.
Because low-income families spend a higher proportion of their income on food, the impact of Brexit on their purchases was disproportionately greater, they said.
The CEP found that Brexit-induced price rises led to a 1.1% increase in the overall cost of living for the poorest households – 52% more than the 0.7% increase experienced by the poorest 10% of households in Britain .
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A previous report by CEP researchers found that leaving the EU increased food prices by six percent.
“We found that leaving the European Union increased food prices by 3% per year, resulting in an increase of 6% over two years,” their report, titled Non-Tariff Barriers and Consumer Prices: The Evidence, says . from Brexit.
Richard Davies, a professor at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study, said: “Inflation in the UK is set to exceed 11 per cent in 2022, the highest rate for 40 years. There are many factors involved that affect both the demand and the supply of goods and services. One of the factors of such high inflation was the increase of non-tariff barriers in trade with the EU.
“By leaving the EU, the UK has changed a deep trading relationship with few barriers to trade to one that requires a wide range of checks, forms and steps before goods can cross the border. Companies faced higher costs and passed most of them on to consumers. In the two years to the end of 2021, Brexit has increased food prices overall by around six per cent.”
Nikhil Datta, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and co-author of the study, said: “The policy implications are serious: non-tariff barriers are an important barrier to trade that should be a priority, at least alongside tariffs. , for politicians interested in low consumer prices.
“We estimate that Brexit has resulted in a loss of £210 for the average family, or £5.84 billion overall when looking at its impact on the food market alone. Because poor families spend more of their income on food, they suffer more.”
