New statistics compiled by rural insurers NFU Mutual, using data from the Office for National Statistics, have shown the cost of living in rural Britain is rising almost twice as fast as in urban areas.

In January, a group of MPs representing rural constituencies appealed to the Prime Minister to act to stop the growing gap in investment between rural and urban areas; the results of several recent studies have provided evidence of ‘rural neglect,’ including higher youth unemployment, lower wages, higher taxes and fewer services and amenities in the countryside.

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 Six months after pleas made by the All-party Parliamentary Group on rural Services, it appears little has changed. The MPs explained to the Prime Minister that, despite having a higher cost of living, rural regions benefit less from public spending on transport, education and healthcare services.

Massive public spending on controversial projects such as the HS2 rail link and the Olympic Games while spending on public transport and leisure facilities in the countryside has been repeatedly slashed has created a gulf between very distinct areas of the country and enraged those in rural regions.

Having studied the price of a ‘basket of goods’ which covered average weekly spending on items ranging from petrol and household electricity to pet food and fresh fish, researchers worked out that rural households spend an average £39.04 per week more than urban households on essential items. Over the space of a year, the ‘rural premium’ identified by NFU Mutual costs those living in rural areas an estimated £2,030 more than their urban counterparts.

The researchers revealed that inflation has run at almost twice the rate in the countryside, compared to in towns and cities. Although nationally average inflation was 4.3 per cent over the past year, in the countryside inflation was found to be 7.7 per cent.

However, the group admitted that, in compiling its ‘Countryside Living Index,’ it included a range of goods and services used more frequently by country-dwellers. Nevertheless, although people in more pastoral regions would be expected to use more heating oil, gardening equipment and even motor oil, premium costs for medical prescriptions, fresh fruit and home maintenance will undoubtedly be cause for concern.  

Richard Percy, NFU Mutual chair, explained the significance of the research, “People in the countryside have a better quality of life but costs associated with this are becoming increasingly difficult to bear for families on lower incomes.”

The study also revealed people in rural regions have to travel further to reach shops and amenities, at 5.3 miles compared to 2.6 miles for urbanites. The insurers said it intends to make its index a quarterly affair to track price changes which will affect rural residents.

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