Households in the north have experienced a record drop in their spending, according to new research.
The UK’s Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found the spending power of the average family in Northern Ireland had contracted by 28.7 per cent in a year.
The data, produced for Asda’s latest income tracker for the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, suggests the average family here was left with only £95.10 per week to spend on discretionary goods and services.
That represented a £38.30 drop year-on-year, leaving the north as the worst off region of the UK, with the gap continuing to widen with the rest of the UK, where the average stood at £209 per week in Q3.
The research comes as the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) published new experimental data on Tuesday, exposing the impact of inflation on the lowest priced groceries in supermarkets.
It found that the price of vegetable oil jumped by 46 per cent in the past five months, with lower priced chips (24 per cent) and bread (22 per cent) also seeing sharp rises in recent months.
The study, which analysed 30 everyday low price groceries between April 2021 and September 2022, found the average price jumped by 17 per cent.