• Double vaccinated Brits are paying an average of £190 for COVID tests when travelling
• 4.7 million Brits plan to travel from September to November
• Test providers could make almost £1.93 billion over the next year

7, September, 2021, LONDON –

Around a whopping £483 million could be pumped into the COVID test industry in just three months according to new analysis by finder.com, a personal finance comparison site.

By analysing the costs of 50 COVID test providers, Finder have calculated how much the industry could gain from Brits intending to travel internationally before November, as well as how these prices differ by vaccination status and country.

Finder’s monthly travel survey revealed that 4.7 million Brits plan to travel over a 3 month period from September to November, and the current level of the population of over-16s who have had both vaccinations is 78%. If prices aren’t capped any lower and Brits travel in the same numbers, test providers could be making almost £1.93 billion over the next year. This figure could well rise too, with more Brits likely to travel once vaccinated.

Liz Edwards, UK editor-in-chief at personal finance comparison site finder.com gives advice on ensuring you’re paying the lowest prices possible on your COVID tests:

“There’s currently a huge discrepancy in price and service quality in the private COVID testing industry. Whilst the government is attempting to tackle this issue, this fledgling industry is likely to remain loosely regulated for a little while yet.

If you’re one of the growing number of Brits who plan to travel abroad soon, then make sure you shop around to find a reasonably priced test from a provider on the government’s list. A few minutes of searching could save you and your family or friends a significant amount of money and hassle. It is also a good idea to keep tabs on the country you plan to visit because a change in its red, amber or green category is likely to alter the tests you need to buy“.

Methodology:

Individual test costs:
Individual prices for both PCR and Rapid Antigen tests were sourced from different UK providers, varying by purpose (ie. pre-departure from the UK, day 2 and 5, return to the UK).

Average costs for those travelling:
Finder analysts took the average COVID test costs for vaccinated and unvaccinated Brits, and applied these figures to the percentage of Brits intending to travel (attained from our monthly Travel Index survey). Those costs were also applied to three different family units to find the varying costs for families who might be travelling abroad too. Finder analysts used the individual weighted averages of both fully vaccinated and unvaccinated 3-month figures to gain a 12 month projection of the testing industry costs.

Compare test kit prices here: www.finder.com/uk/covid-19-testing