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End of Year Stats

Close to 3 million emergency food parcels were distributed by food banks in the Trussell Trust network in the past 12 months — the most parcels ever distributed by the network in a year.

Food banks in the Trussell Trust network saw the highest ever levels of need, even more than during the peak of the pandemic, as more people found their incomes did not cover the cost of essentials like heating and food. Between April 2022 and March 2023, the number of people that used a food bank for the first time was 760,000.

December 2022 was the busiest month on record for food banks in the Trussell Trust network, with a food parcel being distributed every 8 seconds.

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2,986,203

emergency food parcels

37%

increase from the same period in 2021/22

1 million

emergency food parcels provided for children

Between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s UK wide network distributed close to 3 million emergency food parcels to people facing hardship – this is an increase of 37% from the same period last year. More than one million of these parcels were distributed for children.

Graph showing number of emergency food parcels distributed in the last six years
Map showing number of emergency food parcels distributed across the UK

It’s time to guarantee our essentials

While the pandemic and cost of living crisis have had a major impact on food bank need, they are not the main cause. Rather, they have exposed and exacerbated a longer-term crisis: that of a weakened social security system that is unable to protect people from the most severe forms of hardship, thereby forcing more people to the doors of food banks.

Rising food bank need demonstrates more and more people are going without the essentials – we’re calling on the UK government to enshrine in law the amount needed to cover bills and essential items.

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“These new statistics are extremely concerning and show that an increasing number of people are left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organisations to get by and this is not right. The continued increase in parcel numbers over the last five years indicates that it is ongoing low levels of income and a social security system that isn’t fit for purpose that are forcing more people to access food banks, rather than just the recent cost of living crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Food banks were set up to provide short-term support to people in an emergency, they are not a lasting solution to hunger and poverty, and more than three quarters of the UK population agree with us that they should not need to exist. 

The staff and volunteers in our network are working tirelessly to ensure help continues to be available, but the current situation is not one they can solve alone.

For too long people have been going without because social security payments are not based on a real reflection of life’s costs and people are being pushed deeper into hardship as a result. If we are to stop this continued growth and end the need for food banks then the UK government must ensure that the standard allowance of Universal Credit is always enough to cover essential costs.”

Emma Revie
Chief Executive

Factsheets

Read our factsheets for a detailed breakdown of what this year’s statistics are telling us at a UK level and the findings for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Food bank Statistics for previous Financial Years with Regional Breakdown

Total

TOTAL 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
United Kingdom 1,354,362 1,606,794 1,909,388 2,579,292 2,183,625 2,986,203
England 1,046,776 1,236,153 1,489,537 2,128,471 1,789,656 2,460,055
Scotland 173,531 217,055 238,597 224,624 199,676 259,744
Wales 100,362 116,325 136,115 146,757 131,663 185,320
Northern Ireland 33,693 37,261 45,139 79,440 62,630 81,084
East Midlands 67,078 78,229 101,788 138,775 128,754 172,680
East of England 127,027 152,678 190,145 245,331 224,413 324,477
London 137,248 167,726 204,362 423,294 284,687 384,477
North East 65,177 89,479 98,520 124,494 100,334 154,403
North West 198,825 225,198 254,221 313,817 253,084 347,976
South East 128,488 155,697 199,519 305,182 259,363 349,400
South West 122,383 133,983 163,244 202,350 174,950 247,850
West Midlands 121,048 142,917 169,143 226,512 207,863 278,230
Yorkshire and The Humber 79,502 90,246 108,595 148,716 156,208 200,562

Adults

ADULTS 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
United Kingdom 862,563 1,021,083 1,185,237 1,583,470 1,347,746 1,846,650
England 660,808 779,092 917,179 1,296,501 1,100,260 1,513,487
Scotland 117,545 145,607 157,545 146,621 128,699 171,776
Wales 64,341 74,480 84,353 92,216 83,005 115,637
Northern Ireland 19,869 21,904 26,160 48,132 35,782 45,750
East Midlands 42,436 48,956 62,503 84,700 81,696 107,516
East of England 78,717 93,669 113,858 142,980 132,107 192,995
London 88,534 107,537 129,417 263,663 178,128 238,902
North East 41,369 56,202 62,037 78,334 63,350 95,452
North West 123,574 141,217 153,835 193,024 155,372 213,707
South East 80,448 98,124 120,729 182,041 156,257 211,528
South West 77,109 84,197 100,398 122,645 107,476 153,629
West Midlands 77,415 91,680 106,888 138,135 130,554 174,338
Yorkshire and The Humber 51,206 57,510 67,514 90,979 95,320 125,420

Children

CHILDREN 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23
UnitedKingdom 491,799 585,711 724,151 995,822 835,879 1,139,553
England 385,968 457,061 572,358 831,970 689,396 946,568
Scotland 55,986 71,448 81,052 78,003 70,977 87,968
Wales 36,021 41,845 51,762 54,541 48,658 69,683
Northern Ireland 13,824 15,357 18,979 31,308 26,848 35,334
East Midlands 24,642 29,273 39,285 54,075 47,058 65,164
East of England 48,310 59,009 76,287 102,351 92,306 131,482
London 48,714 60,189 74,945 159,631 106,559 145,575
North East 23,808 33,277 36,483 46,160 36,984 58,951
North West 75,251 83,981 100,386 120,793 97,712 134,269
South East 48,040 57,573 78,790 123,141 103,106 137,872
South West 45,274 49,786 62,846 79,705 67,474 94,221
West Midlands 43,633 51,237 62,255 88,377 77,309 103,892
Yorkshire and The Humber 28,296 32,736 41,081 57,737 60,888 75,142

What do these stats show?

Every year we release statistics about the number of emergency food parcels food banks in our network have provided to people. We release figures for the first six months of the financial year in November, and for the full financial year at the end of April. These figures cover 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

Our statistics are a measure of volume rather than unique users. The data is collected using an online system into which food banks enter data from each food bank voucher, and the number of emergency food supplies is recorded.

For example, if a family of three were referred to a food bank twice in one year, this would count as six supplies on the system because it would reflect six instances of a supply going to someone in the household. However, if a family of three were only referred to a food bank once, this would count as three supplies.

Figures from the Trussell Trust cannot be used to full explain the scale of food bank use across the UK, because our figures relate to food banks in our network and not to the hundreds of independent food aid providers and community groups also providing emergency food, which have increased in number through the pandemic. There are more than 1300 food bank centres in the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network. The Independent Food Aid Network has identified at least 1,172 independent food banks, while there are also Salvation Army food banks as well as food banks run from schools and hospitals. There are also thousands of food of other food aid providers including soup kitchens and social supermarkets.

You can read more about our methodology here. Download the Raw Data file here.

To find out more about the drivers of hunger and who is most at risk, read our research on Hunger in the UK.