Hayley Grice, 50, from Shropshire, dropped seven sizes after starting on the GLP-1 weight-loss jab Mounjaro two years ago. “I’m now at a point where I’m going to buy even more clothes,” she says, now a UK size 12 after a lifetime between sizes 26 and 28. “When you are so morbidly obese, you dress in what you can, what will fit. You can’t really choose the latest fashion or whatever your style is.” Now she shops in standard stores rather than online plus-size retailers. “I would have shied away from colour, I would have shied away from anything that drew attention to me,” she adds. “And now I don’t care, if I like it I’ll wear it.”
Grice is far from alone. More than two million people in the UK now use weight-loss medications, and the drugs are reshaping spending far beyond the supermarket. In June, market research company Worldpanel by Numerator published a study based on survey responses and observed purchase data from more than 11,000 households in February. It found that households with at least one GLP-1 user spent on average £418 less on groceries in the year after they began their medication, compared with non-users — amounting to a fall of £780m in grocery spending nationally. A peer-reviewed study from Cornell University published last year found that US households with at least one member using weight-loss drugs spent 5% less on groceries within six months, rising to 8% among higher income families.
“Weight-loss jabs are reshaping UK spending, with users cutting grocery bills by £418 a year and buying more clothes.”
The drugs, such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, work by mimicking the natural hormone GLP-1, which regulates hunger, reducing appetite. That shift in appetite changes what people buy. Worldpanel found that users spent less on chocolate and pastries and more on fruit and protein-rich foods like prawns. They also consumed less alcohol. But they bought more chewing gum, mouthwash and hair dyes — products that counter common side effects like thinning hair and bad breath. Cornell’s research found users cut back most on calorie-dense processed foods, spending 10% less on savoury snacks, and bought less cheese, butter, soft drinks and eggs but more yoghurt. However, when users stop taking their medication, households “revert to their pre-adoption grocery spending patterns” and even shift toward slightly less healthy baskets.
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed by Worldpanel reported cutting out or trying to reduce meals out since starting their jabs. In the US, where one in five adults (21%) have tried GLP-1 drugs, spending on grocery, alcohol and apparel has shifted noticeably. Britain appears on a similar trajectory: 5% of adults, or nearly 3 million people, are now on the drugs while 9% have taken one at some point, according to new research from the consultancy PwC. PwC expects this number to rise to 13% by the end of next year — about 7 million people. “A single class of medication is already influencing how millions of people in Britain eat, drink, exercise and shop,” says PwC. “GLP-1s are doing far more than reducing appetite. They are creating a new consumer.”
About 60% of GLP-1 users are women; 6% come from lower-income households whereas 20% are from the wealthiest; and 83% of potential users said they would be more likely to take GLP-1s if they were available as a pill, according to PwC. One in 10 women aged 35-54 are using the drugs, while usage peaks among 25- to 44-year-olds at 13%, says Tamara Sender Ceron, who heads up fashion retail at the market research company Mintel. As users slim down, their wardrobes change. Nishita Pattni, a senior consultant at Worldpanel by Numerator, told the BBC that weight-loss jabs weren’t “simply reducing spending” but “reshaping it”. “This isn’t simply a story of shrinking demand. It’s also a story of shifting demand.”