UK beer sales 'at lowest level since 1930s'

UK beer sales in pubs are at their lowest level since the 1930s, brewers said today.

Seven million fewer pints per day are now being sold in Britain compared to the beer market’s 1979 peak – a 22% drop.

Overall beer sales across pubs, bars, supermarkets and off-licences are at their lowest level since 1969, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

In pubs, beer sales have plummeted 49% since 1979 but supermarket and off-licence beer sales have increased over the same period, lessening the overall decline.

The BBPA today sent a letter to MPs calling for a freeze on beer duty.

It cites the soaring costs of barley, malt, glass, aluminium and energy as factors which are squeezing brewers’ profits.

The BBPA’s calls follow the launch last week of the Alcohol Health Alliance which wants tax on alcohol to be increased.

But the BBPA complains that between 1997 and 2006 beer duty increased 27% compared to an 11% drop in beer consumption.

This compares to tax hikes over the same period of 11% for cider, 16% for wine and 3% for spirits.

Major brewers in the UK saw their profits slump by 78% between 2004 and 2006, the BBPA said.

In the open letter to MPs, BBPA chief executive Rob Hayward said: “We believe the benefits that have been enjoyed by other drinks from a tax freeze should be extended to Britain’s national drink – beer.

The BBPA’s members account for 98% of beer brewed in the UK and nearly two thirds of Britain’s 58,000 pubs.

A spokesman at the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said: “Camra completely backs demands for a freeze in excise duty on beer, and would go further in calling for a reduction in the level of tax on Britain’s national drink in order to bring people back to the pub.

“It is no coincidence that Britain has the highest level of excise duty in the EU and sales in the on-trade are falling, and yet binge-drinking is on the increase as supermarkets cynically exploit the consumer by offering cut-price booze to drink at home.

“A pub is the proper place to enjoy a drink in a responsible and regulated atmosphere.”