The Co-operative Bank’s latest Ethical Consumerism Report was published in December 2007. This year’s report was put together from data including research compiled here by staff at Ethical Consumer, and is available online as a pdf.
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
| Spend (2005) |
Spend (2006) |
% growth
(2005-2006) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethical Food & Drink | |||
| Organic | £1,473m | £1,737m |
18%
|
| Fairtrade | £195m | £285m |
46%
|
| Free-range eggs | £240m | £259m |
8%
|
| Free-range poultry | £100m | £116m |
16%
|
| Farmers' markets | £210m | £225m |
7%
|
| Vegetarian products | £639m | £664m |
4%
|
| Freedom-Food | £16m | £17m |
6%
|
| Sustainable fish | £17m | £55m |
224%
|
| Dolphin friendly tuna | £218m | £223m |
2%
|
| Food & drink boycotts | £993m | £1,214m |
22%
|
| Sub-total | £4,101 m | £4,795m |
17%
|
| Green Home | |||
| Energy efficient appliances | £1,661m | £1,824m |
10%
|
| Energy efficient boilers | £1,366m | £1,471m |
8%
|
| Micro-generation | £26m | £32m |
23%
|
| Green mortgage repayments | £385m | £396m |
3%
|
| Energy efficient light bulbs | £18m | £26m |
44%
|
| Ethical cleaning products | £27m | £34m |
26%
|
| Sustainable timber | £716m | £696m |
-3%
|
| Green energy | £54m | £127m |
135%
|
| Insulation | £241m | £247m |
2%
|
| Rechargeable batteries | £35m | £42m |
20%
|
| Buying for re-use - household products | £1,330m | £1,291m |
-3%
|
| Sub-total | £5,859m | £6,186m |
6%
|
| Eco-travel and Transport | |||
| Public transport | £377m | £682m |
81%
|
| Responsible tour operators | £101m | £103m |
2%
|
| Environmental tourist attractions | £16m | £18m |
13%
|
| Green cars | £98m | £96m |
-2%
|
| Travel boycotts | £1,030m | £817m |
-21%
|
| Sub-total | £1,622m | £1,716m |
6%
|
| Ethical Personal Products | |||
| Ethical clothing | £29m | £52m |
79%
|
| Ethical cosmetics | £317m | £386m |
22%
|
| Charity shops | £411m | £359m |
-13%
|
| Buying for re-use - clothing | £421m | £360m |
-14%
|
| Clothing boycotts | £281m | £338m |
20%
|
| Real nappies | £5m | £7m |
40%
|
| Sub-total | £1,464m | £1,502m |
3%
|
| Community | |||
| Local shopping | £2,276m | £2,585m |
14%
|
| Charitable donations | £2,860m | £2,288m |
-20%
|
| Sub-total | £5,136m | £4,873m |
-5%
|
| Ethical Finance | |||
| Ethical banking | £5,020m | £5,551m |
11%
|
| Ethical investment | £6,098m | £7,223m |
18%
|
| Credit unions | £388m | £428m |
10%
|
| Ethical share holdings | £49m | £55m |
12%
|
| Sub-total | £11,555m | £13,257m |
15%
|
| Grand Total | £29,737m | £32,329m |
9%
|
Ethical Consumerism Report 2007 (open as PDF 1.04Mb)
