Sales of single-use plastic carrier bags at England’s largest retailers have fallen by 90% since the introduction of the carrier bag charge, according to the latest government figures.
New data published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) shows the seven largest retailers sold 126 million single-use plastic bags during the 2025-26 reporting year, down 23% on the previous year and 90% lower than in 2016-17, the first full year after the charge was introduced. The figures represent around two bags per person.
Across all 94 large retailers required to report data, a total of 399 million single-use plastic carrier bags were sold between 7th April 2025 and 6th April 2026. That marks a 9% decline compared with the previous reporting year and an 81% reduction since 2016-17, equivalent to around seven bags per person.
The 5p carrier bag charge was introduced for large retailers in England in October 2015 before being increased to 10p and extended to all businesses in 2021. Large retailers must continue to report annual sales and information on how proceeds from the charge are used.
Defra said the latest figures demonstrate the continued impact of the policy. The department noted that the main retailers issued an estimated 7.6 billion single-use carrier bags in 2014, before the charge came into force. Based on the latest returns, annual sales have fallen by more than 7.5 billion bags.
However, recycling and resource management company Reconomy said the figures do not tell the full story of plastic bag use. While sales of single-use bags have dropped sharply, the data does not include bags-for-life or other reusable carrier bags, making it difficult to assess the overall environmental impact of consumer shopping habits.
David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs at Eurokey, commented: ‘The carrier bag charge has been one of the UK’s biggest environmental stories in a bid to address single-use plastics. It shows that clear policy can change behaviour, with sales at the UK’s largest retailers falling by 90% since the charge was introduced.
‘But with 399 million single-use bags being sold every year, and published data not including the number of bags-for-life being sold, the full picture still isn’t clear. The reality is that the recent announcement to delay policy implementation for household collections for flexible plastics by three years means that just over one billion additional bags are likely to end up being landfilled or incinerated before households are able to recycle them more widely, wasting valuable, finite resources.
‘The recycling sector is ready to play its part, but it needs consistent and timely policy to give businesses the confidence to keep investing in the domestic infrastructure, and consumers the confidence that their plastic can and will be recycled. Only when everybody works together will we be able to build a truly circular economy.’
Photo: Mathias Reding