What's become ridiculously expensive in the UK in just the last 5 years?

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FakeBotSimp@reddit

Chocolate has become stupidly expensive, the size of the bars have drastically reduced while the price continues increasing

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That’s because the price of cocoa went up when various droughts destroyed the global supply of crop for a year and a bit. Think the price is coming back down now but doubt the chocolate manufacturers will reduce their prices.

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hydraides@reddit

yeah its bullshit though, just any excuse to keep rising the price of every thing, butter crisis, chocolate crisis etc etc...

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Great-Science-8586@reddit

Vets.

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FakeBotSimp@reddit

Vets have definitely increased to beyond an affordable point for a lot of people

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katyaboid@reddit

This is a result of the market consolidation where most of the vets are a part of a chain/hedge fund. Support your independent vets where you can or it'll get much, much worse

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Specialist_Invite538@reddit

Hedge fund?

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72dk72@reddit

Yes it annoyed me that it was investigated and the government have done very little. They should have either set a limit of the number of practices one parent company can own (say 25) and/or set maximum prices and set the maximum you can charge for a prescription to say £10 ( or match NHS ones).

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paul-techish@reddit

the rise in vet costs is frustrating, especially when so many local practices are being bought up... Supporting independent vets seems like a practical way to keep costs down and maintain quality care.

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Timely_Egg_6827@reddit

Increase in wholesale med prices post-covid didn't help either.

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ExoticExchange@reddit

Hot take. We should massively discourage dog ownership in particular because the price of vets is astronomical and people are having to rely on charity to care for their animals.

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quiet_control909@reddit

I paid £1250 for a leg amputation on my dog. When my other dog got hit by a car 3 years later, the cost for the same operation was £2500. That was in 2020 so I dread to think what it would be now.

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72dk72@reddit

Insurers should help by setting rates they will pay or insurers having there own vets. Instead everyone just pays more.

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Practical-Two-4681@reddit

Property

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Think-Spring-7352@reddit

It's brutal. I've noticed it in our industry (textiles) - cotton prices went up 40% over the last two years, shipping costs tripled during COVID and never really came back down. The thing that gets me is energy costs. Manufacturing anything in the UK right now means your overheads have doubled. A lot of companies either had to raise prices or move production abroad. Are you seeing it hit specific things more than others? I'm curious what industries got hit hardest from a consumer perspective?

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slimboyslim9@reddit

Water bills. Dec 23 - £24 Sep 24 - £28 Sep 25 - £56 ?! Dec 25 - £65 wtf?! Something badly needs to be done. Especially as we’ve had bonus scandals, more water outages than ever before and only came out of a hosepipe ban a few weeks ago.

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Lisylou21@reddit

June 25 mine was £110. Dec 25 it was £245. Haven't changed my usage at all. Madness.

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slimboyslim9@reddit

That’s insanity! Is that monthly?!! Do you keep a Bond villain-style aquarium of sharks or something?! I genuinely want to see mass action on this. A nationwide boycott of bills for 6 months or co-ordinated daily letters to MPs or something to make the point. It’s *tap water*, they can’t arrest us all over it, can they?

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Lisylou21@reddit

6 monthly thankfully. Still mad about how much it went up

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heroics-delta8s@reddit

Water bills are regulated. Water companies, despite having an excellent job in cleaning up the rivers got caught up in a political/moral panic and the government(s) under pressure upped the standards needed and reduced the time frame for capital infrastructure improvement. Water investment is a closed system. It comes from bills. If you want to accelerate improvements it can only come from bill payers. You want to end all rain water sewage discharges you need to change the way millions of homes are connected to the water system. This is expansive when done over a shorter time frame.

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slimboyslim9@reddit

Water companies are for-profit. That should never have happened and now I don’t trust that any increase in my bill is actually going to those infrastructure improvements and not shareholders or board room bonuses. Govt should’ve acted already to pull it back under nationalised control. It’s a basic human right and nobody should be profiting from it. I can’t change my water provider or reduce my usage to lower my bills without making unhealthy or unhygienic choices. That’s inherently wrong.

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heroics-delta8s@reddit

It’s not the profits, it’s planned improvement brought forward. The water companies have been an incredible success, we have the cleanest drinking water in the world, and the rivers have not been as clean since the Industrial Revolution. The tragedy of public ownerships is not something I want to return to. The dirty man of Europe.

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Alwayslisteningin@reddit

Burgers at pubs. My local hilariously put the price up to £23. It was £18 a couple of years back, punchy still, but a good burger. Jokes on them though, when a Friday lunch out become £60+ including the 12.5% service charge, you stop going.

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Covids-dumb-twin@reddit

Cars, since 2020 they have almost doubled in price for a similar car.

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Feeling_Phrase1340@reddit

When I was a young warthog, the idea of getting a takeaway - aside from an occasion or holiday. Or a new-ish car. So was air travel, most eating out, buying artisanal coffee, etc. If you did such things, you could expect to pay serious coin. So really, it's just like my childhood again - you can do such things if you want, but you need to prepare to cough up. And then you realise it mostly wasn't worth it in the first place.

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Giraffesaremyjam@reddit

Ahh the grand old days of travelling from Northern England to Spain on a Redcrest coach.

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UnderHisEye1411@reddit

This was not my experience at all. I had more spending power when I earned minimum wage in 2011 than I do now. Me and my girlfriend were both on low wages, but could go abroad several times a year for a few hundred quid each, rather than the ££££ it costs now. 2 bed flat in Zone 3 rent was only £900, we had plenty spare for takeaways and other treats.

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Feeling_Phrase1340@reddit

I was a young warthog well before 2011! 2011 was still golden era for cheap takeaways for flights.

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delicatedead@reddit

We've started doing posh ready meals instead of takeaways. I'm talking £10 Charlie Bingham meals or something from M&S's fancy range. Works out cheaper than a takeaway and the food is often nicer IMO.

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DisastrousLawyer6782@reddit

I got 3 liters of olive oil in Spain lidle back in April for £12 good stuff

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asuka_rice@reddit

No new wardrobe updates again and make do andamends.

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Underwritingking@reddit

Bratwurst in a tiny roll at the German Xmas market. This was the first year I just shook my head and walked away.

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tearsoverbeersonce@reddit

Olive oil

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Sidders1993@reddit

I was going to type this before I even opened this thread. Absolutely fucking mental prices.

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salahiswashed@reddit

It’s gone back down quite a bit now. I got a litre in Waitrose for about £6

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lovelight@reddit

Big issues with fire and extreme weather caused real issues. It has eased recently. But you can expect the same sort of thing to happen with coffee and chocolate.

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LateFlorey@reddit

Why is this?! We were in Sardinia last July and it was a quarter of the price for decent stuff.

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mazred123@reddit

Energy.

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Feels_Goodman@reddit

Xbox Live Ultimate, used to get a three month pass from CDKeys... £42.19 in November £32 in August £30 in May £23 in January £21.50 last October (2024) Double in the space of a year is outrageous, so I've simply stopped paying it. Warzone is still free to play, so I do that and I've got a backlog of games I can go to if needs be (but still smashing Balatro on the regular)

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phatboi23@reddit

> Xbox Live Ultimate, used to get a three month pass from CDKeys... it's currently £32.99

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Feels_Goodman@reddit

Ah weird, so it is! It definitely was £42.19 when I checked, wonder if it's on offer with post-Christmas sales etc? https://preview.redd.it/1c96h0fsmiag1.jpeg?width=385&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d6235829f288053aff3aadccd18b19c1d4f32d1

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Omadster@reddit

Lamb , rediculous price now, dont even bother buying anymore

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PerLin107@reddit

Gas and Electricity.

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Traditional-Idea-39@reddit

My last bill was £220 in a small 2-bed terrace for 2 adults. Robbing bastards

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snakeoildriller@reddit

Bought an air fryer - hardly use the oven or the gas hob now.

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liptastic@reddit

Gas is still cheaper to cook on oh heat water on than electricity

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PerLin107@reddit

Indeed. Its all still way too expensive though

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JayR_97@reddit

Yeah, I was paying £40 per month before the prices went crazy now its more like £100 per month just to keep the heating on.

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PerLin107@reddit

And the govern ment wonders why people are angry. Sheesh.

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heroics-delta8s@reddit

There are a few due to fluctuations in crop supply ( a series of poor harvests) especially so for cocoa and coffee, and others that work on slim margins and rely on part time staff, basically anything in retail or hospitality have seen eye watering changes in employer national insurance contributions. It isn’t just an extra percent, the changing of the threshold has markedly impacted businesses bottom line. Was at just a bog standard normal pub for a festive lunch a few weeks ago, the starter was £9. Nothing special. Just run of the mill. That would have been £4.50 five years ago.

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VirtualBee7681@reddit

Flat Whites - £2.50 -> £4 in 5ish years is crazy.

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rfarr90@reddit

Coffee is a joke now, my local cafe is £3.85 for a flat white and comes with a homemade biscuit. This soon adds up when you are picking up on the way to work 5 days a week. 3.85 x 5 is 19.25 a week 19.25 x 52 is £1001 a year on coffee ☕ 🤦😂 Still doing it though. I tried making my own, it's just not the same.

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CurmudgeonlyBargee@reddit

RAM from £70 to over £350 for 32gb of DDR5 in the last 6 weeks.

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harbs9@reddit

McDonald’s

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ENNLRon@reddit

I hardly ever eat fast food, but wanted to try out a Whopper and a Big King last weekend. 15 quid for two burgers? BK is outrageous.

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yabyum@reddit

It used to be average food quick. Now it’s expensive food slowly.

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ENNLRon@reddit

Sensation Thai Sweet Chili sharebags used to be 75p when they were on offer. Now they're £1.75 or £1.50 if you're lucky.

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topher2604@reddit

A 500ml bottle of pop in Spar. Used to be about £1.30 just before lockdown. Now they're like £2.15.

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Slobbadobbavich@reddit

First Class stamps. £1.70. Basically they don't get there the next day, lucky if you get your letter posted within a week. Second class stamps do the same job and are a rip off at 87p. I always note the date on letters I recieve and they are always a week late. Are they really posting them a week after writing them and why do they all arrive in a bunch together? I can literally buy something from China that costs £1.70 along with a few other items from aliexpress and get them within a week for free postage.

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VeryCreative2025@reddit

Fresh fruit and vegetables.

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LittleSadRufus@reddit

They seem very cheap to me. 69p for a kilo of carrots, 36p for an apple, 80p for a kilo of potatoes... Add cheap red lentils or whatever and you can make whole meals for literally pennies per person. Bananas especially impress me. Something like 15p for a highly nutritious fruit grown on the other side of the world, harvested by hand, and ripened over days in a pressurised container. That's 15p for a light breakfast, power boost before a run, or a delicious snack or treat.

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trappedoz@reddit

Agree with root vegetables, but apple prices are atrocious

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Artistic_Train9725@reddit

£5.79 yesterday for 5 bananas, 2 x 400g punnets of grapes, and a 750g punnet of clementines all from Morrisons. I get veg from a local shop so it costs a bit more but it's still cheap.

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jez_24@reddit

Indeed. Certainly much cheaper than paying for them to be mangled into something that’s partly food.

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StGuthlac2025@reddit

New car prices.

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greenfence12@reddit

Used car prices too

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beefboxer84@reddit

Water bill almost doubled last year. Weekly shop has doubled from around £60 5 years ago to £120 now The thing which as shocked me the most is the price of walkers crisps and chocolate bars

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Firm-Spray78@reddit

Deodorant and toothpaste seems to have rocketed the last six months!! And chicken also

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anonaccount119@reddit

The sure 96hr deo is now a fiver! I'm seriously debating if I like the people around me enough to pay for it.

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Sweet-Service-3914@reddit

I'm down to an itty-bitty bit of toothpaste! Whereas before I used to squirtl-it along the whole length. Which, with hindsight was a bit extravagant!

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Agreeable-Register67@reddit

Corned Beef

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Old_Pattern_9330@reddit

Smokeless coal

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niki723@reddit

Coffee. I used to happily buy a coffee whenever I wanted- 5 years ago it was only around £2 for a flat white and about the same to add a slice of cake or similar so I'd have that as a weekly treat. Now you're looking at £4 for coffee at most places and £5ish for a slice of cake. I was shocked the other day when I bought a coffee and cinnamon bun and it was £9.20! My salary certainly hasn't doubled in 5 years, so now I pause to think about whether I really want a coffee. Likewise for utilities- the massive increase in standing charges! My monthly combined gas and electricity bills in 2020 were about £40 for a 2 bedroom house (generally £20ish in summer, £70ish in winter). My most recent monthly winter bill was £154.

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jez_24@reddit

It might be that the two are related; I imagine it costs a lot to keep the electricity on in a cafe nowadays! Non domestic prices are 75% higher than 2021, for domestic users it’s 50%. Small independent businesses are suffering

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niki723@reddit

Oh I'm sure that's had an impact, several small businesses closed down in 2022/3 when utilities skyrocketed. Add in general increases to food costs, minimum wage etc and it all adds up.

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pollypetunia@reddit

It's the tea that gets me- £3 or £4 for a tea bag in some boiling water. I know the cost of the raw material has gone up but at least with a vaguely fancy coffee you can kid yourself you're paying more for the milk and the labour involved.

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niki723@reddit

So true! I love a peppermint tea but cannot justify the cost in a cafe when I have the same teabags at home!

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Mobile-Vegetable7536@reddit

coffee

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Automatic_Screen1064@reddit

Bacon double cheese xl large meal, I'm sure I paid 13 quid the other day

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Automatic_Screen1064@reddit

Heinz salad cream

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StockGuuuuuh@reddit

UK based holidays

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Lizzie-P@reddit

And the train to get there. Often cheaper to get a plane out of the country than a train to another part of the UK

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Magical_Mariposa@reddit

Dominos… because why is a pizza and two sides £30??

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insertitherenow@reddit

Tins of corn beef and Bovril compared to what they were a few years ago.

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Top_Consequence_8567@reddit

Carsssss, before Covid. I could get a really decent car that would last me at least 5 years for under 3k. Now it’s at least 10🥲

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Sloter@reddit

Stamps.

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Weak_Top_3464@reddit

Minced Beef - it's like £7.50 for the cheapest option in most supermarkets

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Pargula_@reddit

Pints.

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Recent-Ebb-7489@reddit

Chocolate

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ismokedwithyourmom@reddit

Everything except for two notable items: 1. Own-brand 'euro shopper' energy drinks at the corner shop. These were 35p when I was a teenager, went up to 59p in 2024, and are back down to 50p. 2. Weed is exactly the same price today as when I was a teen It's like the economic powers that be _want_ me to make unhealthy choices

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xp3ayk@reddit

I'm pretty sure an eighth isn't an eighth by weight any more. They still callit an eighth and charge the same amount but it, like everything else, has been shrinkflated away. I don't smoke so this is all third hand info however

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adymann@reddit

£10 a gram these days.

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ismokedwithyourmom@reddit

Look at my username (created when I was 15)... I do have first hand experience on the matter

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xp3ayk@reddit

I will certainly defer to your greater knowledge!

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External-Spell149@reddit

photos of celebrities' feet

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MeltingChocolateAhh@reddit

Just photos of feet in general. It's pretty extortionate.

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JohnLef@reddit

It's a heel not many are willing to die on

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space_absurdity@reddit

Corny.

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No_Gap3395@reddit

Coffee at central London cafes.

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Organic-Can7856@reddit

Electricity is outrageous! Thank goodness for my log burners

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cann-i-say@reddit

Food shopping

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

Chocolate

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JavaRuby2000@reddit

Chocolate and Crisps. A lot of the the things that people complain about such as meat, margarine, fruit and veg can still be had cheaply if you shop around. But, junk snack food and confectionary has really shot up to the point I wonder who is actually buying it nowadays.

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Nuthetes@reddit

Tradies are taking the absolute piss. Charge an arm and a leg for a complete bodge job that takes an age to complete and then try and charge you even more.

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JayR_97@reddit

Driving lessons apparently. I was paying £25/hr 5 years ago. Good luck getting that now.

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Time-Mode-9@reddit

Clothes

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Sweet-Service-3914@reddit

I don't buy clothes as such anymore, only new underwear & socks as needed. As my Uncle used to say "Moneys not for spending."

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Ecstatic_Ratio5997@reddit

Olive oil. Haven’t changed my habits only because the other types of oils are worse.

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xp3ayk@reddit

I've swapped to cold pressed rapeseed oil for most things, though do have olive oil for eg salad dressings. I'm not convinced cold pressed rapeseed oil is any worse for you than olive oil, I know rapeseed oil gets a bad rap but I think that's mainly the bleached and deodorised kind. Plus I feel better for the reduced food miles and not funding the mafia

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weavin@reddit

It has less polyphenols but better omega 3/6 balance/qualities I believe

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Sweet-Service-3914@reddit

My pet has a little bit of this on her dinner.

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Silver-Advance5276@reddit

The local knocking shop round ere has increased prices by an average of 167 % in last 12 months.

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Fish_Minger@reddit

The cost-per-minute must be astonishing for you?

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Silver-Advance5276@reddit

Its cool he only charges me by the second.

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mhoulden@reddit

Coffee beans. I usually get Taylor's Hot Lava Java beans. In Jan last year they were £4.30/bag or £6 for 2 from Sainsbury's. Now they've stopped doing the beans so I have to get them from Morrison's. £5.15/bag or £9 for two when I ordered some yesterday.

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KatherinesDaddy@reddit

Fruit juice, bog roll and cheese...

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MCDCFC@reddit

Most things made by Heinz

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wonkychicken495@reddit

Tobacco gone up £9 in 3 n bit years hate to imagine what it be in another 2

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Major_Bag_8720@reddit

That’s tax.

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skinnydog0-0@reddit

Living

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katyaboid@reddit

Sit down restaurants to the point we barely go there anymore

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BuncleCar@reddit

There's a Polish Cafe sketch on YouTube by Harry Enfield about 20 years ago where he buys a small coffee for £1 or so. Lucky so-and-so :(

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Cute_Ad_9730@reddit

Takeaway fish and chips. It should still be about £7 in my head but nearly double that now. Just not worth it.

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cgknight1@reddit

Lobster has really gone up in price. Good quality goodwelt welt shoes have also increased significantly - my cobbler says it is the cost of labour.

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LordSexyAsshole@reddit

At least you only have to buy proper shoes once or twice in your life. I’m still on one pair and I’m 55.

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buttersnapsghee@reddit

Everything

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johnmarksmanlovesyou@reddit

Everything except Christmas vegetables

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cloudylemo@reddit

Greggs. Just went and got two sandwiches, 2 sausage rolls and 2 pasties and it came to £19. WTF

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Civil-Gap-6305@reddit

B&Bs / weekend stays away. Used to be able to find lovely places for around £100pn on average. Now it is routinely double that, or more. Seems to have rocketed since Covid.

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JonnyNotts40@reddit

Beef!

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Duanedoberman@reddit

Chocolate. Almost doubled in price in the past few years.

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OpenCantaloupe4790@reddit

I’m vaguely aware chocolate has skyrocketed beyond the rate of average food inflation but I can’t say it’s changed my habits. When I want chocolate I want chocolate. I don’t look at the price but one day I will probably look up and realised I’ve paid £5 for a sad air-filled ‘sharing’ bag of giant buttons.

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poptimist185@reddit

I actually have cut back. I’ve stopped paying attention to the total price and look at the price per kilo, which seems to rise with almost every supermarket visit. I’m surprised they even display it anymore.

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bandit_uk@reddit

Tinned mackerel Full fat yogurt Cars in general Green and blacks chocolate Drop off fees at airports

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NostalgiaTripper@reddit

Cheese!

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gareth1229@reddit

Services are the worst I think. Most tangible products, especially the essential consumables have inflated more reasonably because there are many alternatives. But because of the anti-globalisation/trade we are headed, I don’t know for how long this is going to be true. But now services are killing us! Water, energy, building management, airlines, transportation - all of them so expensive!

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W51976@reddit

The price of air. With inflation, it’s only going to elevate even more.

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Simply_az@reddit

Takeaways for a family now approaching the price of a restaurant meal for Families.

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Sweet-Service-3914@reddit

Vet's bills are ridiculous now!

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bob_the_rod@reddit

Doner kebabs. People posting on the r/doner sub saying they're getting one for £2.50. It's £10 round here.

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deltic12@reddit

Living..

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zackjbryson@reddit

Freddos.

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assorted_chalks@reddit

Absolutely everything.

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WigglesFT@reddit

Beef

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jdsuperman@reddit

Pizza Express

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