UK households ‘spent 12% more on essentials in February than year earlier’

Almost four in 10 people have to use credit cards to cover such costs, says Nationwide

Inflation and rising bills mean UK households are spending 12% more on essentials than they were a year ago, with almost four in 10 people having to use credit cards to cover these costs, new data shows.

Two days after it emerged that the UK’s annual inflation rate unexpectedly jumped to 10.4% in February, Nationwide said its figures showed that consumers spent 34% more on utility bills and 17% more on mortgage payments last month than they did in February 2022.