The number of food parcels distributed by food banks in the UK has grown rapidly over the last decade. The following visualization shows data from the Trussell Trust (so it doesn’t include all food banks in the UK):

Food banks

There is some evidence that increasing usage of food banks is linked to austerity.

The latest data is up to the end of March 2020, so it doesn’t include the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which is forecast to result in a 61% increase in food parcels needed across the UK.

This time of year is particularly difficult for users of food banks, so please consider donating if you can. Thank you.

Visualization type: bar chart

Data source: Trussell Trust (and this PDF for earlier years), CSV, 236 B.

Technical notes: generated using ggplot2; code

See also: Food Banks in the UK, a House of Commons Library Research Briefing