Beer duty escalator has led to 1 billion-pint drop in sales

New figures show that pubs are now selling 1 billion fewer pints of beer per year since the introduction of the beer duty escalator in March 2008.

As reported in yesterday’s Sunday People and Sunday Mirror newspapers, regions in the North and Wales have been particularly badly hit, according to the figures compiled by analysts CGA Strategy and released today by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

The escalator has seen beer tax rise by 42% in four years. Worst hit areas for beer sales in pubs include the North West (down 27%) the Midlands (down 28%) and Wales (down 29%). The controversial policy is also costing around 5,000 jobs per year, mostly younger people in Britain’s pubs.

CGA’s chief operating officer, Phil Tate, said: “Without doubt, the duty escalator has made an already challenging trading environment ever more difficult. It has contributed to a loss of one in five pints for pubs across Great Britain. Wales and Lancashire have been hit hardest hit with over one on four pints being lost. Even London has not been immune, seeing volumes fall by 17%.”

Brigid Simmonds, BBPA chief executive, said: “This is yet more evidence of the damage done by a 42% beer tax hike since 2008. It is simply astonishing that further big increases are planned. If the Government wants jobs and growth in what is a key part of the economy, the Treasury must now tackle this issue.”