ONS chief economist talks food inflation and the cost of a Sunday roast on BBC Radio 4

A roast dinner for four cost an estimated £8.68 in March 2023, according to ONS figures — £1.68 more than the same meal a year earlier. The ONS based that estimate on a basket of five ingredients: chicken, potatoes, carrots, broccoli and butter.

Broccoli was the sharpest riser in that comparison, up 34 per cent between March 2022 and March 2023. The figures show that not every ingredient moved equally — but across the basket as a whole, the year-on-year increase worked out at around 24 per cent.

The ONS posted about the appearance on social media, noting that Grant Fitzner, its chief economist, had taken part in the Food Programme conversation and directing listeners to BBC Sounds.

It’s worth keeping the roast-dinner estimate in context. The ONS figure covers a defined selection of ingredients and won’t capture different portion sizes, branded products, energy costs for cooking, or the price of a pub roast. It’s a useful illustration of price direction, not a precise measure of what any given family actually spends.

Food prices have continued to climb since that March 2023 snapshot. The annual rate of increase in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices reached 4.5 per cent in the year to June 2025, the ONS said — the third consecutive monthly rise in that rate. Meat prices, along with milk, cheese and eggs, were among the contributors to that latest increase.

No verified 2026 figure for the cost of a Sunday roast was available at the time of publication, and no confirmed broadcast date for the Food Programme episode was identified from available sources.