Jam purchases in UK households have declined substantially since the 1970s, while recent spending has been steadier than purchase quantities. The latest available estimates record 12 g of jams and fruit curds per person per week in FYE 2025, compared with 36 g in 1974. Marmalade purchases fell from 27 g to 5 g over the same periods.
Contents
- Jam and fruit-curd purchases over time
- Marmalade purchases over time
- Household spending on jam and fruit curds
- Household spending on marmalade
- Sugar and preserves in recent household purchasing
- Jam composition and formulation
Jam and fruit-curd purchases over time
The official UK household purchase series measures average quantities per person per week. It groups jams with fruit curds, so the figures describe that combined category rather than jam alone. The series also represents household purchases, not the amount each person necessarily eats.
In 1974, UK households purchased 36 g of jams and fruit curds per person per week. The figure was 32 g in 1979, 28 g in 1984, and 24 g in 1989. By 1994, the estimate had reached 21 g, followed by 17 g in 1999.
The decline continued in the 2000s. Purchases were 16 g per person per week in 2004 and 15 g in 2009. The estimate was 14 g in 2014, 13 g in 2019, and 12 g in 2020. It remained at 12 g in FYE 2025.
| Period | Jams and fruit curds purchased per person per week |
|---|---|
| 1974 | 36 g |
| 1984 | 28 g |
| 1994 | 21 g |
| 2004 | 16 g |
| 2014 | 14 g |
| 2020 | 12 g |
| FYE 2025 | 12 g |
The full series is reported in Quantity of food and drink purchased for UK households, whose title identifies the measure as average grams or millilitres per person per week. The latest comparison therefore shows a lower household purchase estimate than in every listed earlier period, with the same reported level in 2020 and FYE 2025.
For readers comparing years, the units matter: each observation is normalized to one person and one week, even though the underlying source concerns UK households. This makes the periods easier to place side by side, but it does not describe the size of an individual jar, the number of shopping trips, or the share of purchases made for children or adults.
Marmalade purchases over time
Marmalade followed a similar but steeper downward pattern in the UK household purchase estimates. In 1974, households purchased 27 g per person per week. That fell to 22 g in 1979 and 21 g in 1984. The estimate was 18 g in both 1989 and 1994.
The reported quantity dropped to 14 g in 1999 and 10 g in 2004. It then reached 9 g in 2009, 6 g in 2014, and 6 g again in 2019 and 2020. In FYE 2025, the estimate was 5 g per person per week.
| Period | Marmalade purchased per person per week |
|---|---|
| 1974 | 27 g |
| 1984 | 21 g |
| 1994 | 18 g |
| 2004 | 10 g |
| 2014 | 6 g |
| 2020 | 6 g |
| FYE 2025 | 5 g |
These figures come from the same official UK household quantity series. They are UK household estimates, measured per person per week, and FYE 2025 means the financial year ending in March 2025. The series does not establish why the reported quantity changed.
Household spending on jam and fruit curds
The expenditure series provides a separate view of the category. It reports average pence per person per week spent by UK households, rather than grams purchased. As with the quantity data, “jams and fruit curds” is the category measured; it is not a jam-only spending estimate.
Reported spending was 1 pence per person per week in 1974. It rose to 2 pence in 1980 and 3 pence in 1990. The estimate was 4 pence in 2000 and remained 4 pence in 2010 and 2020. It then reached 6 pence in 2021 and stayed at 6 pence in FYE 2025.
The source is UK household and eating out expenditure on food and drink, which identifies the measure as average pence per person per week. The figures are nominal pence as reported in that series; no inflation adjustment is supplied here.
Looking at the listed dates, spending on jams and fruit curds increased from 1 pence per person per week in 1974 to 6 pence in FYE 2025, while the separate purchase series moved from 36 g to 12 g. Those are different measures and should not be treated as a price calculation: the dataset does not provide the quantities, prices, or adjustments needed to calculate one.
Household spending on marmalade
UK household spending on marmalade was reported at 1 pence per person per week in 1974. It reached 2 pence in 1980 and remained at 2 pence in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. The estimate was 1 pence in 2022 and 2 pence in FYE 2025.
| Period | Jams and fruit curds | Marmalade |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 1 pence | 1 pence |
| 1980 | 2 pence | 2 pence |
| 1990 | 3 pence | 2 pence |
| 2000 | 4 pence | 2 pence |
| 2010 | 4 pence | 2 pence |
| 2020 | 4 pence | 2 pence |
| FYE 2025 | 6 pence | 2 pence |
The marmalade spending observations are from the UK household expenditure series. The reported spending level in FYE 2025 was therefore 2 pence per person per week, even though the quantity series for marmalade recorded 5 g per person per week in that financial year.
Sugar and preserves in recent household purchasing
A broader series gives more recent context but does not isolate jam. According to Family Food FYE 2025, UK households purchased 108 g of sugar and preserves per person per week in FYE 2021. The estimate fell to 83 g in FYE 2022 and 78 g in FYE 2023, then rose to 85 g in FYE 2024.
In FYE 2025, households purchased 78 g of sugar and preserves per person per week. The source reports this as down 8.3% from FYE 2024. Because the category combines sugar and preserves, this figure should be used as surrounding purchasing context rather than as a jam statistic.
| Financial year ending | Sugar and preserves purchased per person per week |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 108 g |
| 2022 | 83 g |
| 2023 | 78 g |
| 2024 | 85 g |
| 2025 | 78 g, down 8.3% from FYE 2024 |
The UK purchase and expenditure series are official Family Food estimates for UK households. FYE refers to the financial year ending in March of the named year. The broader category is useful for context, but it cannot show how much of the reported amount was jam, marmalade, sugar, or another preserve.
Jam composition and formulation
The Food and Agriculture Organization provides technical formulation guidance and composition figures. These are not measurements of one current commercial product, and the guidance is undated in the supplied references.
The FAO describes jam as having at least 40% fruit content. For mixed-fruit jam, the first-named fruit should account for at least 50% of the total fruit added. The FAO description gives marmalade a minimum citrus-fruit content of 20%.
Sugar is another defining formulation measure. The FAO states that total sugar content in jam should be at least 68% to prevent mould growth after opening. Its technical guidance gives normal jam sugar content as approximately 68% to 72%.
The FAO composition table lists berry-fruit jam at 29.8% moisture and 69.0% sugar as invert sugar. Stone-fruit jam is listed at 29.6% moisture and 69.3% sugar as invert sugar. These are table values for the named jam types, not a new measurement of every berry or stone-fruit recipe.
The same table lists vitamin C at 10–25 mg per 100 g for berry-fruit jam and 10–35 mg per 100 g for stone-fruit jam. The ranges indicate the values reported for those categories in the technical table; they should not be read as a guaranteed value for a particular jar or homemade batch.
The formulation references are Fruit and vegetable products and Fruit and vegetable processing: fruit-specific preservation technologies. Together, they provide technical composition statistics that complement the UK household purchase estimates without measuring the same thing.