Supermarket costs continue to soar as everyday groceries increase 17 per cent in a year

ONE of Rishi Sunak’s first challenges will be tackling the cost of living crisis — with supermarket prices continuing to soar.

On his first full day as PM, data shows the cost of everyday groceries has increased by 17 per cent in the past year, with prices rising faster each month.

Vegetable oil tops the list of products to have risen the most, going up by 65 per cent since September last year.

Pasta, tea, chips, bread, biscuits, frozen veg, milk and crisps have all gone up by between 23 and 60 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In its groceries study, the ONS tracked 1.5million prices on seven supermarket websites over the past year.

The findings give a snapshot of the extra costs faced by cash-strapped families dealing with inflation at a 40-year high.

It shows prices have increased by an average of 17 per cent, with very few items coming down.

The largest price drop was orange juice, which fell 8.9 per cent. Minced beef was also 7.4 per cent cheaper than a year ago.

Rice and granulated sugar have remained steady over the past year.

Prof Sir Ian Diamond, of the UK Statistics Authority, said the price of most items is “really going up with very, very few things going down”.

He added: “The squeeze on people who buy low-cost things is hard at the moment.”

A separate ONS report showed half of adults were struggling to pay their energy bills and a third were finding it hard to keep up with their rent or mortgage.