The average cost of a pint in the UK has risen by 6% to £3.94 from £3.70 in 2019, according to shopping comparison website finder.com.
The research, which was carried out ahead of International Beer Day today, found that London remains the least affordable city for drinking in the UK, costing £5.19 per pint on average. The cost of booze in Brighton isn’t far off, where locals pay £5.02p on average.
Cambridge comes in as the third most expensive city, with pints costing £4.91. Following this are Edinburgh and Oxford, with a beer costing £4.74 and £4.49 respectively.
The cheapest UK city to have a socially-distanced pint, now that many pubs have re-opened, is Dundee, where locals need to pay just £3.08p. This is 41% cheaper than the capital and 86p less than the UK’s average. Dundee is closely followed by Swansea (£3.12) and Perth (£3.14). The fourth cheapest destination is Sunderland (£3.30), while Stoke-on-Trent takes fifth place (£3.33).
By comparing the price of a beer in 177 of the world’s most populated cities in each country, London ranks as the 19th most expensive. The £5.19 that locals are forced to pay is more than double the global average, which is £2.36 a pint.
It certainly isn’t cheap to head to a London pub, but there are numerous cities that will burn a larger hole in your pocket. A pint in Dubai, Oslo, Manama and New York City will cost between £2 to £3.50 more, but the dearest pint was found in Doha, Qatar at an eye-watering £10.86.
‘The average cost of a pint has risen by four times the rate of inflation’
In contrast, the cheapest pint in the world is found in Caracas, Venezuela at a very affordable 32p. This is closely followed by Freetown in Sierra Leone at 41p, while tourists heading to Lusaka, Zambia can enjoy a pint for only 57p.
For a full breakdown of the research, including data for all countries and an interactive world map, visit: finder.com/uk/international-pint-price-map
Commenting on the research, travel and shopping specialist at finder.com, Georgia-Rose Johnson, said: “It’s interesting to see that the average cost of a pint has risen by four times the rate of inflation (1.5% as of March 2020). This rise is unlikely to put customers off with the pubs re-opening after three months on 4th July.
“However, it is probable that pubs and bars may have to increase their prices in order to make up for the losses they have incurred by being closed over the last three months, causing the cost of a pint to be even more expensive next year.”
