Superb Digital – Cost of Living Report – Sep 2022

Date Posted: 21 October 2022

The cost of living is rising at almost its fastest rate in 40 years, with energy bills now set to reach £4,000 for the average household, the rate of inflation expected to peak at 11% this month, and the majority of wages failing to keep up with rising prices.

With this in mind, we wanted to find out which areas of the UK are most likely to be searching for information on, or solutions to, the biggest issues facing millions of Britons today.

Utilising Google Keyword Planner to analyse search volume data between July and September 2022 for relevant cost-of-living keywords, we selected 50 keywords and phrases related to the cost of living. These included generic informational terms around the cost of living, as well as some specifically related to the key areas of household energy, food, and fuel. 

We used various sources – including news articles, trending topics, and Google Autocomplete – to inform our selection of these keywords.

Our research analysed 26 of the UK’s largest major cities and towns by population in order to spot regional trends or outliers. To get a fair split we included an even mixture of the most populous southern and northern cities. Once we had pulled the stats, we extrapolated the data to take population size into account (calculating a per capita figure), which we could then use to directly compare each city. 

We also then looked at UK-wide data to compare keywords and keyword segments.

Summarising the Data

Amid the post-Covid recession and ongoing war in Ukraine, the search data we have analysed unequivocally shows a nation increasingly concerned about the cost of living – specifically over fuel costs – as people turn to Google for help and advice.

In summary:

• There is a clear north/south divide in the UK’s search behaviour.
  
• Leeds is the city most likely to be searching for information on, or solutions to, the cost of living crisis, followed by Manchester and Birmingham.
  
• The only Southern city to feature in the top 10 is Plymouth, ranking at number 9, while Brighton and Southampton are at the bottom of the list.
  
• “Cost of living payment” was the highest-searched term between July and September, searched by over 800,000 people across the UK.
  
• The next highest-searched keywords were related to fuel – “petrol prices” and “cheap petrol near me” – although searches for the majority of fuel-related keywords have declined over the past three months, as we would expect in line with falling prices.
  
• “Transport costs” was the only fuel-related keyword to see an increase in UK-wide searches over the past three months, suggesting people are still concerned about fuel prices and looking for alternative travel solutions.
  
• UK-wide searches for “energy discounts” (+457%), “grocery discounts” (+267%) and “cancel HelloFresh subscription” (+182%) saw the biggest year-on-year increases.
  
• UK-wide searches for “energy discounts” (+457%), “energy bills” (234%) and “gas prices” (+173%) saw the biggest increases over the past three months.

Search volume by city

When totalling search volumes across all the 50 keywords analysed, the data showed the top UK major cities and towns that were most likely to be searching for information on, or solutions to, the rising cost of living per capita. 

Ordered by total searches as a percentage of the city population, the ranking order is as follows:

As you would expect, the data shows a clear north/south divide in the UK’s search behaviour, with Leeds revealed as the city most likely to be searching for information on, or solutions to, the rising cost of living on Google, followed by Birmingham and Manchester. 

The only Southern city to feature in the top 10 was Plymouth (9th), while Brighton and Southampton were at the bottom of the list.

All Cost-of-Living Keywords

When analysing the keywords and phrases, we looked at the number of Google searches in September 2022, as well as the three-month and YoY percentage changes. 

It is worth noting that some of the keywords and phrases analysed are based on new or emerging topics that would not have been relevant either three or 12 months ago, so the associated percentage increase (change) may be unexpectedly high, or when the baseline was zero, be shown as an infinite amount. 

Ordered from the most searches in September 2022 to the least, the UK-wide search volume data revealed the following:

Among the other most common searches, fuel-related searches were dominant, along with . a lot of generic searches such as “cost of living”, “council tax rebate” and “inflation”, all with significant YoY and 3-month growth. 

“Cost of living payment” was by far the highest search term in our study, with 823,000 searches in September (up 22% from three months ago), compared to the next most searched term of “petrol prices” with 135,000 searches (down 55% from three months ago).

Generic Keywords

Looking at some of the more generic informational terms, the search volume data revealed the following:

“Cost of living payment”, “cost of living” and “council tax rebate” were the most common searches in this segment. As these are new or emerging topics in the UK, this is reflected in the percentage difference for the YoY change. 

“Council tax rebate” saw a decline from three months prior – applications to claim opened in April – and so with many councils having already closed their applications, consumers will likely have been searching for this earlier in the year.

Tellingly, searches for “deals”, “save money”, and “discounts” all saw significant YoY change – up 83%, 49%, and 22% respectively – with the latter two seeing no rise in the last three months. This suggests that people have been feeling the pinch for some time – possibly due to the financial fallout from Covid.

When looking at the per capita calculations, it was Leeds, Birmingham, and Manchester who were most likely to be searching for generic information around the cost of living.

Household Energy

Looking at some terms related to household energy – including electricity, gas, and water – the search volume data revealed the following:

“Energy bills”, “energy prices”, “gas prices” and “electricity prices” were the most common searches in this segment, all seeing significant growth over the last three months – up 234%, 83% and 173%, respectively.

Food

Looking at some of the terms related to food, focusing mainly on groceries, the search volume data revealed the following:

“Food shortages” and “food prices” were the most common searches in this segment, however searches for “grocery prices” saw the greatest yearly increase, almost tripling with growth of 267%. Searches for “grocery discounts” and “food prices” were also up 88% and 82% YoY, respectively.

Fuel

Looking at some of the terms related to fuel, the search volume data revealed the following:

“Petrol prices” and “cheap petrol near me” were the most common searches in this segment in September 2022, however the recent fall in fuel prices is clearly reflected in the decline in searches over the past three months.

Interestingly, “transport costs” was the only search term to record an increase in searches over the past three months, which suggests people are still concerned about petrol prices and looking for alternative travel solutions.

Non-essentials

As well as the aforementioned key topics, we also looked at how many people are looking to cancel non-essential services, such as Netflix and other similar subscriptions.

It has been well documented that Brits are increasingly considering cancelling non-essential subscriptions and memberships as a penny-pinching tactic during the ongoing cost of living crisis, and our keyword research backs this up, with the data indicating that Netflix is a popular choice to axe, as the most common search in September 2022. 

However, looking at the three-month change for cancellation phrases related to Netflix and Deliveroo, searches have actually declined, indicating that consumers were unsatisfied with the services before the rising cost of living became a national crisis. Looking at the 12-month change, the biggest increases are to “cancel HelloFresh subscription” and “cancel Disney+ subscription”, up 182% and 40%, respectively. 

A final word about the north / south divide

While the data does show a clear north / south divide, it’s worth noting that Plymouth, Bristol and Bournemouth are all outliers bucking that trend as the only southern cities to feature in the top half of the table.

While Plymouth’s position can likely be explained by it being within the 20% of the most deprived local authority areas in England, Bristol and Bournemouth are seen as relatively affluent cities with burgeoning local economies and sky-high house prices. What this suggests is that these cities have a serious problem with wealth inequality, comprising both some of the most affluent residents and also some of the most deprived. 

For example, while Bournemouth has been named as one of the most expensive cities to live in the world, it is also battling rising child poverty. Bristol also has a well-documented wealth gap, with one local government report revealing the city’s highest earners take home six times more each week than the city’s lowest-paid workers.

On a wider level, then, the data shows us that while the cost of living crisis isn’t hitting every region of the UK to the same degree, it is nonetheless a UK-wide problem that is affecting communities in every city and region of the country.