Ethical Consumerism Report 2007

Ethical Consumer contributed research to the most recent annual Co-operative Bank’s Ethical Consumerism Report, published in December 2007.

According to this annual review of the state of the market for ethical products, the UK market continues to grow, with a 9% rise bringing its market value to £32.2 billion a year. Furthermore the household expenditure on ethical goods and services has almost doubled in the past five years with the average household spending £664 on ethical products in 2006. Despite these impressive figures, the ethical market value of £32.2 billion remains only a small proportion of the total annual household consumer expenditure of more than £600 billion.

Whilst ethical spending has become more mainstream, a core of ethical shoppers (6% of the UK adult population or 2.8 million) still account for the majority of ethical purchases. Nonetheless between 1999-2007 there has been an increased predisposition towards ethical behaviours such as recycling and supporting local shops/suppliers, across all age groups of the population. Furthermore consumers are increasingly prepared to check out a business’s ethical credentials before spending their cash.

Boycotts

Boycotting behaviours by value were up by 22% in the food and drink sector, by 21% in the clothing sector, but down by 21% in travel and transport. This last figure “may reflect the change in campaigning emphasis by the leading NGOs that have switched focus away from specific companies [Esso] to broader climate change themes.”

Travel and Clothing

Whilst there seems to be a general increase in the ethical market, some areas have shown less remarkable improvement and others have shown a marked decline. In eco-travel there was a 6% rise which duly reflects the limited choice of the ethical consumer in this sector. Charity shop sales were down 13% and appear to have been squeezed out by the budget retailers and internet auction sites. However the sale of ethical clothing was up by a massive 79%.

Food and Drink

The biggest overall rise in ethical spending occurred in the food and drink sector, with an increase of 17% taking the total to £4.8 billion and accounting for 5.1% of the UK’s total food and drink sales. The sale of Fairtrade goods such as tea, coffee and bananas increased by £90 million (46%), driven in part by consumer awareness and greater availability. Organic food also increased (18%) although the increase in the market for sustainable fish (224%) was the most impressive.

Green home

Spending on green energy tariffs has also more than doubled in 2006, growing from £54 million to £127 million. Furthermore an estimated £247 million was also spent on insulation and double-glazing for environmental reasons, whilst spending on energy efficient light bulbs increased by 44% to £26 million.

Ethical consumerism in the UK, 2005 - 2006

Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 (open as PDF 1.04Mb)