Inflation rate facing elderly jumps to 7%

Alliance Trust’s independent study of age related inflation has found that the over 75 year olds continue to be hit the hardest by rising inflation, and the pain is getting worse. This age group saw their inflation rate jump from 6.3% to 7.0% in August. The inflation rates facing most other age groups increased by a smaller margin in August, but almost all face a rate which is higher than the official rate of 4.7%.

Over 75 year olds have also suffered from the ongoing surge in food prices, which have increased by almost 15% over the last year. This hits the over 75 year old age group hardest as they allocate 16% of their household budget to food compared to less than 9% for the under 30 households. Inflation for many basic food items is even higher than this. Bread & cereal and meat prices have all increased by 17% over the last year and milk, cheese and egg prices have surged 19%.

Shona Dobbie, Head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre said, "We are currently seeing the highest levels of inflation in the history of our six year study. The recent gas and electricity price hikes hit the elderly the hardest because they spend a higher proportion of their household budget on such services. On top of this the elderly spend a much higher proportion of their budgets on basic food items. Food price inflation is now at 15%, with some basic foods, such as bread & cereals, meat and dairy products, all displaying price increases of 17% or more over the past year. The over 75s are facing a rate of inflation 49% higher than the official rate of inflation, which is currently 4.7%, mainly due to rising utilities and food costs which have soared over the past year.”

View the full press release here.

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