The rising popularity of dining out has made the hotel, catering and pub sector one of the top ten fastest growing industries in the UK, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Households spent £80b on eating and drinking out in 2002, 85% more than in 1992.
This outstrips the growth in overall household expenditure on food, which increased by 61.5% over the same period.
Reflecting the growing trend for eating outside of the home, the number of hotel, caterering, pub and restaurant businesses has increased from fewer than 109,000 in 1995 to more than 122,700 in 2002.
The overall food sector – including agricultural produce and manufactured foods – contributed £74b to the UK economy in 2002 or 8% of GVA (gross value added, a measure of economic output that excludes taxes but includes subsidies).
by Angela Frewin
Buy this week's Caterer magazine for more industry news and analysis