Research and analysis

Single-use plastic carrier bags charge: data for England 2024 to 2025

Updated 31 July 2025

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

Since 5 October 2015, large retailers (those with 250 or more full-time equivalent employees) in England have been required by law to charge customers for all single-use plastic carrier bags given out. This charge was originally set at 5 pence per bag. Large retailers are also required to report certain information to Defra, including: 

• the number of single-use carrier bags sold under the charge 
• gross proceeds  
• any costs incurred 
• the use of the net proceeds 

Retailers can provide additional information on donations and bags for life on a voluntary basis. 

From 21 May 2021, the charge for single-use plastic carrier bags was raised to 10 pence and extended to all businesses, though the reporting requirements continued to apply to large retailers only. As such, the 2022 to 2023 reporting period is the first full year of data for single-use carrier bags sold at 10 pence. 

This publication summarises data collected by Defra for the reporting year from 7 April 2024 to 6 April 2025. We have previously published summaries for earlier years and the full datasets on data.gov.uk. This includes the details provided by each retailer. 

The data for 2020 to 2021 cannot be directly compared with other years, due to unique circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these effects may have continued to have an impact in 2021 to 2022. You can find further information related to this in the 2020 to 2021 report. 

1. Summary  

In the reporting year from 7 April 2024 to 6 April 2025, the total number of single-use plastic bags sold by the 102 retailers in England who reported data for the period was 437 million, up 7% since 2023 to 2024 and down 79% since 2016 to 2017, the first full year of reporting since the single-use plastic carrier bag charge was introduced. This is equivalent to around 8 single-use plastic bags per person sold by all retailers who reported data for the most recent reporting year. 

Over the same period, the total number of single-use plastic bags sold by the main 7 retailers in England was 164 million, up 6% since 2023 to 2024 and down 88% since 2016 to 2017. This is equivalent to around 3 single-use plastic bags per person sold by the main retailers in 2024 to 2025. 

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has previously reported that the main retailers in England issued 7.6 billion single-use carrier bags in the calendar year 2014. Our data indicates that, based on this year’s return, there has been a decrease of almost 98% in the annual number of single-use carrier bags sold by the main retailers (over 7.4 billion fewer bags) since the charge was introduced. 

From 2024 to 2025, 31% of retailers (who accounted for around 90% of all bags reported for this period) voluntarily provided additional information on how they chose to donate proceeds from the carrier bag charge. In total, these retailers donated £7.7 million to good causes, bringing the total figure donated since the charge was introduced to over £225 million. 

2. Single-use plastic carrier bag sales 

The reported figures for the number of single-use plastic carrier bags sold between 2016 to 2017 and 2024 to 2025 are shown in Figure 1. The 2020 to 2021 figures cannot be compared with other years, due to the unique circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Figure 1: Reported figures for the number of single-use plastic carrier bags sold in England, 2016 to 2017 to 2024 to 2025 (1) 

Reporting period	Main retailers (2) (3)	Other retailers reporting data (4)	Total (5)
2016 to 2017	1,327 million	789 million	2,116 million
2017 to 2018	1,039 million	716 million	1,754 million
2018 to 2019	566 million	561 million	1,127 million
2019 to 2020	271 million	358 million	628 million
2020 to 2021	294 million	195 million	489 million
2021 to 2022	197 million	300 million	497 million
2022 to 2023	160 million	274 million	434 million
2023 to 2024	155 million	252 million	407 million
2024 to 2025	164 million	273 million	437 million

Notes about Figure 1 

(1) Data for 2015 to 2016 cover 6 months (5 October 2015 to 6 April 2016) and is therefore not directly comparable to later years and not included in the chart. The results from 2015 to 2016 are: 285 retailers reported data, and 1.1 billion single-use bags were sold, 600 million of which were sold by the main retailers. 

(2) The main retailers are Asda, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Co-operative Group and Waitrose. Tesco and Waitrose have reported that they did not sell any single-use plastic carrier bags from 2022 to 2023 onwards. 

(3) The total number of bags sold by the main 7 retailers for 2023 to 2024 and 2022 to 2023 has been updated to correct an error in the data previously submitted by The Co-operative Group and to incorporate revised data for Marks and Spencer. 

(4) A small number of retailers have previously reported data on a voluntary basis (that is, those with less than 250 employees). These retailers account for less than 0.1% of all reported bags in those years. For 2024 to 2025, 2 retailers provided data on a voluntary basis. 

(5) Totals may not add up due to rounding. 

The total number of single-use plastic carrier bags sold by the 102 retailers in England who reported data in the year from 7 April 2024 to 6 April 2025 was 437 million. This represents a 7% increase from the 407 million bags sold by all retailers reporting data in 2023 to 2024 and a 79% decrease from the 2.1 billion sold in 2016 to 2017, the first full year of reporting since the single-use plastic carrier bag charge was introduced. The figure for 2024 to 2025 is equivalent to around 8 single-use plastic carrier bags per person sold by all retailers who reported data for the most recent reporting year. 

From the 2022 to 2023 period onwards, Tesco and Waitrose have reported that they did not sell any single-use plastic carrier bags. The other main retailers (Asda, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and The Co-operative Group) sold 164 million single-use plastic carrier bags in England in 2024 to 2025, a 6% increase on the 155 million sold in 2024 to 2025. Marks and Spencer and Asda saw decreases of approximately 7 thousand and 55 thousand bags respectively, compared to 2023 to 2024. The Co-operative Group, Sainsburys and Morrisons saw increases of 1.3 million, 2.5 million and 5.0 million bags respectively compared to 2023 to 2024. 

The main retailers who sold single-use plastic carrier bags in the 2024 to 2025 period (5 out of 7) account for around 38% of the total bags sold by all retailers reporting data. This is the same as the equivalent figures for 2023 to 2024. In earlier years, the main retailers accounted for between 33% and 60% of total reported single-use plastic carrier bag sales. 

This is equivalent to each person in the population purchasing around 3 single-use plastic carrier bags from the 5 main retailers who sold bags in 2024 to 2025. (Mid-year population estimates for 2024 were not available at the time of production, so 2023 estimates were used). 

WRAP previously reported that the main retailers circulated 7.64 billion single-use carrier bags in England in 2014 (see WRAP’s UK Voluntary Carrier Bag Agreement – 2014 Data, covering 6 of the 7 retailers). This is equivalent to each person in the population using around 140 bags in the year before the single-use plastic carrier bag charge was introduced. The current data provided by the main retailers for the reporting year 2024 to 2025 shows a reduction of almost 98% on the annual number of single-use carrier bags sold since the charge was introduced. 

3. Donations to good causes 

From 2024 to 2025, 31% of retailers (who accounted for 90% of all bag sales reported for this period) voluntarily provided additional information on how they chose to donate proceeds from the carrier bag charge. In total, these retailers donated £7.7 million to good causes. The total amount donated to good causes from proceeds of the single-use carrier bag charge (and reported to Defra) since its introduction in 2015 is now over £225 million. The true total is likely to be higher than this as not all retailers choose to voluntarily report donation figures. 

The total donation figures for each year presented in Figure 2 are not directly comparable between years due to changes in the retailers providing this information from one year to the next.  

Figure 2: Total amount donated by retailers voluntarily reporting data in England, 2016 to 2017 to 2024 to 2025 (1)

Reporting period	Amount donated (2) (3)
2016 to 2017	£65.4 million
2017 to 2018	£51.6 million
2018 to 2019	£22.9 million
2019 to 2020	£9.6 million
2020 to 2021	£11.5 million
2021 to 2022	£10.0 million
2022 to 2023	£8.8 million
2023 to 2024	£8.9 million
2024 to 2025	£7.7 million

Notes about Figure 2

(1) Data for 2015 to 2016 covers 6 months (5 October 2015 to 6 April 2016) and is therefore not directly comparable to later years and not included in the chart. The results from 2015 to 2016 are £29.2 million was donated to good causes. 

(2) The headline figures on donations are not directly comparable between years due to changes in the retailers providing this information from one year to the next. At the time of reporting, some retailers did not have final figures for donations. 

(3) The amount donated for 2023 to 2024 and 2022 to 2023 has been updated to reflect new data submitted by The Co-operative Group and Marks and Spencer. 

3.1 Amounts donated to good causes 

Figure 3 shows a breakdown of the total amount donated by retailers to good causes for the reporting period 2024 to 2025. The chart only covers the 32 retailers who provided this additional voluntary information (including 3 of the 7 main retailers), but of the total donated by these retailers: 

• £209,000 (3%) went to environmental or health causes 
• £367,000 (5%) went to charity or volunteering sectors 
• £7.1 million (92%) went to a combination of good causes, or to causes chosen by customers or staff 

Figure 3: Amount donated by retailers in England to different types of good causes, 2024 to 2025 

Type of good causes	Amount donated
Combined causes or chosen by customers or staff (1)	£7.07 million
Charity or volunteering	£0.37 million
Environment or health (2)	£0.21 million

Notes about Figure 3

(1) Combined good causes means that they are related to education, arts, heritage, sports, environment, health, charity or volunteering sectors, or are causes chosen by customers or staff.

(2) Environment or health means that it includes those that donated to environment or health causes. 

3.2 Types of good causes 

Figure 4 shows the types of good causes to which retailers donated for the reporting period 2024 to 2025. The chart only covers the 32 retailers who provided this additional voluntary information (including 3 of the 7 main retailers), but of these: 

• 47% donated to combined good causes or to causes chosen by customers or staff 

• 31% donated to charity or volunteering causes 

• 22% donated to environmental or health causes 

Figure 4: Percentage of retailers in England donating to different types of good causes, 2024 to 2025 

Type of good causes	Percentage of retailers donating
Combined causes or chosen by customers or staff (1)	47%
Charity or volunteering	31%
Environment or health (2)	22%

Notes about Figure 4: 

(1) Combined good causes means that they are related to education, arts, heritage, sports, environment, health, charity or volunteering sectors, or are causes chosen by customers or staff.  

(2) Environment or health means that it includes those that donated to environment or health causes. 

4. Retailers’ responsibilities 

We rely on retailers who fall within the scope of the carrier bag charge to register and report their single-use plastic carrier bag data.  

For the 2024 to 2025 reporting year, all retailers were required to charge a minimum of 10 pence per bag for carrier bags that meet all of the following criteria: 

• unused – it is new and has not already been used for sold goods to be taken away or delivered 
• plastic and up to 70 microns thick 
• has handles, an opening and is not sealed 

However, retailers with fewer than 250 employees are not required to report data to Defra.  

Retailers are not required by law to report on carrier bag use if they: 

• do not distribute bags within the above definition of single-use plastic carrier bags 

• only distribute paper bags or ‘bags for life’ 

• are small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 250 full-time equivalent employees (although some report data on a voluntary basis)  

Some bags are exempt from the charge, although retailers can choose to charge for them. These include plastic bags that are solely used to contain certain items, including: 

• uncooked meat, poultry and fish 
• unwrapped food for animal or human consumption 
• unwrapped loose seeds 
• flowers 
• unwrapped blades 
• prescription medicine.  

Retailers do not have to charge if the bag only contains these items but must charge if other items are added.  

Read more about retailers’ responsibilities.  

The legal obligation for retailers to charge for, and report the number of, single-use plastic carrier bags supplied with online deliveries (online grocery delivery bags) was temporarily removed from 21 March 2020 to 21 September 2020, during the 2020 to 2021 reporting period. 

Four retailers provided estimates for the number of online grocery single-use bags that they distributed for free during the overlap between this exemption period and the 2020 to 2021 reporting period. These 4 retailers estimated that they distributed 286 million online grocery bags (without charge) during the exemption period.

5. Notes on the data 

Table 1 shows the numbers of retailers reporting data on single-use plastic carrier bag sales. 

Table 1: Total number of retailers reporting data and number of retailers voluntarily reporting data on single-use carrier bag sales in England, 2016 to 2017 to 2024 to 2025. 

Reporting period	Total number reporting data	Number voluntarily reporting data
2016 to 2017	261	0
2017 to 2018	249	0
2018 to 2019 (1)	221	6
2019 to 2020	194	4
2020 to 2021	166	5
2021 to 2022	154	1
2022 to 2023	120	0
2023 to 2024	113	1
2024 to 2025	102	2

Notes about Table 1 

(1) In 2018 to 2019, some retailers did not understand the basis for the mandatory or voluntary field, so this was amended based on the number of employees they reported. 

In total, 99 retailers reported data in both 2024 to 2025, and 2023 to 2024, and these retailers accounted for over 99% of all single-use carrier bags sold in each of these reporting periods. The change in retailers reporting is unlikely to have a significant impact on trends for the aggregate figures.  

For the 2024 to 2025 reporting year: 

• 3 retailers provided data in 2024 to 2025 who had not reported in 2023 to 2024, 1 of these provided data for the first time. These 3 retailers account for 0.3% of the total number of single-use bags reported for 2024 to 2025 

• 9 retailers who submitted data for 2023 to 2024 did not respond or report data for 2024 to 2025. In 2023 to 2024, these retailers accounted for 0.5% of the total number of single-use bags 

• 5 retailers not reporting in 2024 to 2025 notified us that they have stopped issuing single-use plastic carrier bags and are therefore no longer obligated to report data. These retailers accounted for 0.2% of the single-use bags sold in 2023 to 2024 

The data for the latest year 2024 to 2025 are not exactly comparable against the data from the previous year for 2023 to 2024, owing to differences in the list of retailers who provided data. However, this difference in the retailers reporting is unlikely to have a significant impact to the overall aggregate figure or the trend. 

Retailers provide data on donations on a voluntary basis. Changes in retailers who reported donation information mean that direct comparison across years is not appropriate. This data was provided by: 

• 32 retailers (31%) in 2024 to 2025. They accounted for 82% of all bags reported in 2024 to 2025. Two of the main retailers, Asda and Sainsbury’s (who sold single-use carrier bags in 2024 to 2025) did not report their donations 

• 41 retailers (36%) in 2023 to 2024. They accounted for 87% of all bags reported in 2023 to 2024. One of the main retailers, Sainsbury’s, (who sold single-use carrier bags in 2023 to 2024) did not report their donations  

• 48 retailers (40%) in 2022 to 2023. They accounted for 90% of all bags reported in 2022 to 2023. One of the main retailers, Sainsbury’s, (who sold single-use carrier bags in 2022 to 2023) did not report their donations – their donations for 2021 to 2022 was £0.3 million  

• 65 retailers (42% of retailers who reported) in 2021 to 2022. They accounted for 91% of all bags reported for 2021 to 2022 

• 64 retailers (38% of retailers who reported) in 2020 to 2021. They accounted for 82% of all bags reported for 2020 to 2021. Marks and Spencer and Waitrose did not report – their combined donations for 2019 to 2020 were £0.9 million 

• 78 retailers (40% of retailers who reported) in 2019 to 2020. They accounted for 78% of all bags reported for 2019 to 2020. Sainsbury’s did not report – their donations for 2018 to 2019 were £2.2 million 

• 121 retailers (55% of retailers who reported) in 2018 to 2019. They accounted for 57% of all bags reported for 2018 to 2019. The Co-operative Group and Waitrose did not report – their combined donations for 2017 to 2018 were £7.7 million 

• 153 retailers (61% of retailers who reported) in 2017 to 2018. They accounted for 77% of all bags reported for that period. Marks and Spencer did not report 

• 167 retailers (64% of retailers who reported) in 2016 to 2017. They accounted for 81% of all bags reported for that period