How many people face food insecurity in the UK?

The official measure is in the Family Resources Survey, reported by DWP in Households Below Average Income. In the financial year ending 2025 (April 2024 to March 2025), 9% of individuals lived in food insecure households, down 2 percentage points on the year before.

The survey also asks about food bank use: 3.8% of individuals lived in a household that had used one in the previous 12 months, and 1.3% in the previous 30 days. Children were more likely than other groups to live in food insecure households.

Counts of food parcels published by food bank networks are not official statistics and measure parcels handed out, not people. When checking a claim, note whether it refers to households or individuals, and to the 12-month or 30-day food bank measure.

Official sources: HBAI report, FYE 1995 to FYE 2025 · DWP Family Resources Survey

The latest figure

The newest value is at Office for National Statistics (ONS). More on it: UK food price inflation.

When is the next figure out?

Monthly, usually a Wednesday in the middle of the month, 7am; next release 21 October 2026

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• CPI (Consumer Prices Index)
  The UK's main measure of consumer price inflation for the Bank of England's 2% target. It tracks the prices of a basket of goods and services bought by households.
• Year-on-year change
  The change between a figure for one period and the same period twelve months earlier, such as March this year compared with March last year.
• Index number
  A number that shows how a value compares with a chosen reference period set to 100. An index of 110 means 10% higher than the reference period.
• Headline figure
  The main summary number that a statistical release leads with, such as annual CPI inflation or quarterly GDP growth. Other measures in the same release can tell a different story.
• Percentage point
  The arithmetic difference between two percentages. A rise from 4% to 5% is one percentage point, but a 25% increase in the rate.

Where the figures come from

• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics and Stat-Xplore
  Where to find DWP figures on Universal Credit, PIP, State Pension and Pension Credit, how to build a Stat-Xplore table and use the free Open Data API.
• UK poverty and household income statistics (DWP, ONS, DESNZ, Low Pay Commission and devolved governments)
  Where to find official UK poverty, household income, inequality, minimum wage and fuel poverty figures, and how to check claims about them.

Related questions

• How many children are in poverty in the UK?
• How many children get free school meals?
• What is the National Living Wage?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about poverty, incomes and cost of living: all Poverty, incomes and cost of living questions.