2 April 2020, LONDON –

Three in five Brits (60%) admit to stockpiling or panic buying to prepare for the UK going into lockdown, according to personal finance comparison website finder.com. This is equivalent to 31.2 million of us.

The average Brit spent £57.09 on stockpiling items from toilet roll to pasta, meaning that a total of £1.8 billion was spent.

Hand sanitiser appeared to be the item stockpilers and panic buyers were struggling to get their hands on most, as almost two in five (38%) were unable to buy alcohol-based hand gels.

Dry goods such as pasta and rice were the second most scarce items, with over a quarter of stockpilers and panic buyers (26%) struggling to get their hands on these products. Medical supplies such as paracetamol and thermometers were also in low supply, with 23% of Brits experiencing empty shelves when looking to buy these items.

The items bought most frequently were canned goods, with three fifths of stockpilers (59%) admitting to spending on these products. Next up was toilet paper (56%) and crisps (52%), with just over half of panic buyers purchasing the savoury snack.

Gender
Similar numbers of men and women admitted to stockpiling (59% vs 60%), but men spent an average of £69.16, which is 51% more than the female average spend of £45.78.

Region
Residents in Wales stockpiled the most with two thirds of the population (66%) admitting to doing so. However, it was Londoners who forked out more than any other region, with an average of £104.95 being spent by those living in the capital.

East Anglia’s residents were found to have stockpiled the least, with just over half (53%) admitting to panic buying. Similarly, these residents spent less than any other region with an average spend of £29.50.

Generation
Over two thirds of generation X (67%) admitted to bulk buying items, making this the generation that stockpiled the most. Interestingly, millennials spent the most, with the average millennial forking out £91.94.

The silent generation participated less in stockpiling and panic buying than other generations, they also spent the least. Less than half of this generation (49%) stockpiled and only £22.23 was spent on average.

Methodology
Finder commissioned Onepoll on 26-30 March 2020 to carry out a nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+.

A total of 2,000 people were questioned throughout Great Britain, with representative quotas for gender, age and region.