New figures from NPD Group also forecast that the QSR sector could grow by 2% every year for the next three years.

Guy Fielding, director of Business Development at NPD, said QSR operators had managed to respond faster to changing market conditions by creating value offers such as meal deals.

The research also recorded £3.42 as the average spend during the year to March 2013, compared with a total market average of £4.46.

Fielding added: “Lunch does provide a useful clue to how consumers feel about the economy and their willingness to spend. Lunch is typically the first eating-out-of-home occasion to be ‘sacrificed’ to in-home/lunchbox eating. When money is tight, consumers will understandably make their own lunch. But when they feel they have a little more cash, they start buying again.

“We are now watching lunch closely as we expect this to be the next ‘day part’ to start to recover from the recessionary slump.”