The cost of Easter has soared by nearly a quarter compared with last year, as inflation hits popular items including chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, analysis suggests.
While millions prepare to celebrate over the Bank Holiday weekend, research compiled by the Labour party found bills for supermarket staples will be, on average, 23% higher.
Ministers were accused of failing to curb the cost of living crisis, following confirmation last month that inflation had unexpectedly jumped again – driven in part by a large rise in food costs.
Easter treats as well as Sunday lunch favourites are among those items where prices have rocketed.
Though roast lamb is popular around the dinner table at Easter, lamb and goat prices have climbed by 9.4% over the past year, according to stats compiled by the Office for National Statistics.
Potato prices have jumped by 19.8%, with other trimmings, such as fresh or chilled vegetables – including carrots – going up by 18.5%.
The cost of olive oil shot up the fastest – by 40.7% – and frozen vegetables including peas are up 29%. Condiments like mint sauce have risen by 30.9%, compared with Easter 2022.
Some bakery products, which would include hot cross buns, have also increased by 18.3%, while chocolate has risen 11.6% over the past 12 months.
In addition, the cost of normal eggs has grown by 32.5%.
Overall, the costs represent an average rise of 23.4% to Easter staples. It will compound the struggle faced by many households, coming days after they were faced with an average rise of 5.1% to council tax.
Labour used the statistics to renew its call for what it called a “proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants”, which it said could be used to fund a council tax freeze for the coming year.
Pat McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “Easter is very special time. Families want to commemorate the meaning of Easter and enjoy their time together.
“But this year it has become a lot more expensive to celebrate Easter in the traditional way. The cost of an Easter Sunday roast dinner has soared compared with last year.
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He added: “One step the government could take is to freeze council tax for the coming year and fund it by closing the loopholes in the current windfall tax on oil and gas companies. That would ease the pressure and give people some help to cope with rises in the cost of living.”
While Rishi Sunak bowed to pressure when he was chancellor and introduced an “oil and gas profits levy”, there was criticism of what was deemed a “loophole”.
The prime minister has staked his political reputation on halving inflation by the end of the year – an ambition some initially brushed off as a foregone conclusion.
However, there was only a temporary reprieve when inflation fell from its high of 11.1% in October to 10.1% in January. The following month, the squeeze on household incomes intensified when inflation rose slightly to 10.4%.
The rise in prices was driven by the cost of drinks, meals out and fresh food, as salad items ran short.
Sunak and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, have made driving down inflation their top priority, given it is five times the government’s target of 2%.
