Britons are cutting back on food shopping due to double-digit inflation as the country flirts with recession, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in its monthly report today.

The volume of food purchases from shops fell by 0.5% in January, following a 0.7% drop in December, despite the Christmas holiday, the ONS noted.

According to the agency’s announcement, “customers are buying less (food) due to the crisis in the cost of living and food prices.”

Overall retail sales volume rose slightly by 0.5% in January, mainly thanks to post-Christmas promotions. However, this was not enough to offset the 1.2% decline seen in December, a holiday season that is usually favorable for traders.

Overall sales volume remains clearly below pre-pandemic levels, the ONS revealed.

Although Britain narrowly avoided recession in 2022, most economists expect this will not happen in 2023 either.

In a context of very large price rises, many Britons are seeing their budgets come under pressure and millions of low-income families can no longer afford to feed themselves or keep warm decently, non-governmental organizations say.

Britons continue to “tighten their belts in supermarkets,” observed Sarah Coles, economist at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Various ONS figures show half (of Britons) are buying less food and non-essentials (44%)” due to food prices rising more than inflation, up 16.% year-on-year in January , she added.