Mobile phones see large growth in ONS Survey

Households spent£42 a week on food and non-alcoholic drink, according to the 2001-2002 Expenditure and Food Survey from the ONS.

Four-fifths of food spending was in supermarkets - an average of£33 a week, about 20 per cent of which was spent on meat and meat preparations.

Big winners of the period included mobile phones, which are owned by approximately two-thirds of households - growth was 18 per cent between 2000/01 and 2001/02.

Almost half of households also now own a home computer - a rise of 11 per cent - and four per cent of homes use the Internet to shop.