Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024, food banks in the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network distributed more than 3.1 million emergency food parcels to people facing hardship – this is an increase of 94% over the past five years. More than 1.1 million of these parcels were distributed for children.

Every year we release statistics about the number of emergency food parcels food banks in our network have provided to people. We release figures for the first six months of the financial year in November, and for the full financial year at the end of April or early May. These figures cover 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Our statistics are a measure of volume rather than unique users. The data is collected using an online system into which food banks enter data from each food bank voucher, and the number of emergency food supplies is recorded.

For example, if a family of three were referred to a food bank twice in one year, this would count as six supplies on the system because it would reflect six instances of a supply going to someone in the household. However, if a family of three were only referred to a food bank once, this would count as three supplies.

Figures from the Trussell Trust cannot be used to fully explain the scale of food bank use across the UK, because our figures relate to food banks in our network and not to the hundreds of independent food aid providers and community groups also providing emergency food, which have increased in number through the pandemic. There are more than 1,400 food bank centres in the Trussell Trust’s UK-wide network. The Independent Food Aid Network has identified at least 1,172 independent food banks, while there are also Salvation Army food banks as well as food banks run from schools and hospitals. There are also thousands of food of other food aid providers including soup kitchens and social supermarkets.

You can read more about our methodology here.

To find out more about the drivers of hunger and who is most at risk, read our research on Hunger in the UK.