Eating Out facts

The eating out market in the UK was valued at £31.1 billion in 2008 and the average UK consumer spends £10 per week on eating outside of the home.

Spending has risen 55%, faster than in-home food expenditure.

Indeed, in 2008, for every £1 spent on food, 50p was channelled through eating out and takeaway establishments.

Although this is unchanged on 2007, it compares with 44p in the pound in 1998. Mintel research shows that while the economic climate is forcing consumers to make some eating out cut backs, the fast food market is unlikely to suffer. 

It seems consumers are also observing the great British tradition of eating at a local pub.  More than half of all adults have eaten a meal in a pub or bar over the last 3 months. 

Meals served in pubs and bars is the largest market within the eating out sector with sales of £7.6 billion. In 2008, consumers in the UK spent £62.3 billion on in-home food. Each household spent on average about £2,350 on food – an average of £45 per week.

Some 59% of consumers said that they are cutting back on trips to the pub as the recession continues to bite, according to research firm Mintel.

In a survey of over 2,000 consumers, 66% also said they would spend less on going out to restaurants, meanwhile just a quarter said they would cut back on spending on drinking at home.

Today, the average British household spends £30 per week on alcohol, amounting to much as a bottle of wine per night per household.

More than half of all adults have eaten a meal in a pub or bar over the last three months. Meals served in pubs and bars is the largest market within the eating sector with sales of £7.6 billion.

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• 16 Apr 2009 - Consumers cut back on trips to the pub