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Price

On this page

  • Facts and stats
  • Briefings
  • Reports
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Regulation of the price of alcohol is the most cost-effective tool used by governments to address alcohol-related harm, according to the World Health Organisation. Governments use three main methods to regulate the price of alcohol:

  • Varying alcohol prices
  • Varying alcohol taxes/duties
  • Using Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP)

This page includes figures on alcohol pricing in the UK, the level of taxation for each beverage type, how the price of alcohol affects both the level of consumption and the level of various harms, and the impact of different policy measures on those consumption and harms, including evidence in several countries.

Facts and stats

  • The average 5% ABV pint of lager costs: £4.70 in the on-trade and £1.51 in the off-trade (ONS).
  • 54p of the lager price is duty in the on-trade and 60p in the off-trade. This represents: 11% of the on-trade retail price; 40% of the off-trade retail price (duty rates).
  • VAT is 20% of pre-tax price /17% of post-tax price. Excise duty varies between products, but on average accounts for around 25% of the final price. (Bhattacharya, 2017)

Average paid per unit by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

How affordable is alcohol? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

Affordability compared to 1987

  • Off-trade beer is 244.7% more affordable
  • Off-trade wine/spirits is 200.9% more affordable
  • On-trade wine/spirits is 51.0% more affordable
  • On-trade beer is 53.5% more affordable
  • The alcohol duty escalator increased duty by 2% above inflation each year between 2008-2013/14. This helped close the increasing gap between the cost of alcohol in the on- and off-trade, potentially helping the hospitality industry (see more here).

Affordability of beer and wine/spirits by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • The price of alcohol has not kept up with CPI inflation in recent years.
  • Compared to all other food and drink products, alcohol has become the cheapest in real terms in recent years.

Alcohol inflation compared to other products by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • As a rule of thumb, for every 1% increase in the price of alcohol, consumption falls by 0.5%
  • Two major meta analyses each combining estimates from over 100 studies found:

How does alcohol’s affordability affect consumption? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • If a duty escalator were introduced in 2020, an estimated 4,710 alcohol-attributable deaths would be averted by 2032, compared with a policy of increasing duties in line with inflation.

How many deaths would be avoided if alcohol duty was increased? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • If a duty escalator were introduced in 2020, an estimated 160,761 hospital admissions would be averted by 2032, compared with a policy of increasing duties in line with inflation

How many hospital admissions would be avoided if alcohol duty was increased? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • Alcohol duty rates are supposed to increase in line with inflation each year, so that they stay the same in real-terms.
  • HMRC’s Alcohol Bulletin is frequently updated and includes current duty rates – the latest release for 2024/25 is here.
  • Nominal alcohol duty – so duty in cash-terms – has steadily increased over time (see first chart below).
  • However, real-terms duty – so duty compared to inflationary increases of other products – is much lower now than in the past (see following chart).
  • In real-terms, in 2025/26 compared to 2012/13:
    • Beer duty is 32% lower
    • Draught beer duty is 42% lower
    • Cider and spirits duty is 26% lower
    • Draught cider duty is 36% lower
    • Wine duty is 19% lower

How have alcohol duties changed over time? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

How have real terms alcohol duties changed over time? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • Alcohol duty rates per litre of pure alcohol have steadily fallen in real-terms since 2012.
  • The following chart particularly highlights ‘cider exceptionalism’, where cider is taxed at a far lower level compared to equivalent strength beer.
  • It is generally agreed that higher strength alcohol such as spirits should be taxed at a higher rate per unit of alcohol, as these products are disproportionately consumed by higher risk drinkers.

How much alcohol duty is paid per litre of pure alcohol by product (indexed to 2012 prices)? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • Minimum alcohol pricing sets a ‘floor price’ below which alcohol cannot be sold. Under minimum unit pricing (MUP) the floor price is set according to the alcohol content of the drink, per unit.
  • Minimum pricing is not a tax, and any additional revenue from raising prices goes to retailers rather than the government.

Which countries have adopted minimum alcohol pricing? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

How does minimum unit pricing affect the price of alcohol? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • In Scotland, MUP has reduced deaths wholly attributable to alcohol consumption by 13.4% – equating to 156 deaths every year. The greatest effects were seen amongst the four most socio-economically deprived areas. (PHS, 2023)
  • Public Health Scotland found MUP to be associated with a net reduction of 3% in total per-adult sales of pure alcohol in the three years following implementation. (PHS, 2022)
  • The reductions in alcohol purchases were greatest among households that were buying the most alcohol pre-MUP. (Wyper, Grant MA, et al. 2023)

How effective is minimum unit pricing? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • Although alcohol deaths have risen in every UK nation and region, they have risen far less in Scotland due to minimum unit pricing.
  • If the policy had not been in place, deaths would have risen far higher.

MUP Years – Deaths by UK nation & regions of England by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

  • Change in consumption at full effect by policy and socioeconomic status (units per year)

How effective are alcohol duties and minimum unit pricing combined? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

Briefings

Autumn Budget Analysis 2024

November 2024

Alcohol and Economic Crises

April 2024

Minimum pricing of alcohol

A brief history of alcohol duty

The rising affordability of alcohol

February 2018

Reports

Spin the bottle: How the UK alcohol industry twists the facts on harm and responsibility

June 2025

The Price is Right: Minimum unit pricing for alcohol and the case for a windfall tax

May 2025

Spending Review submission 2025

January 2025

IAS Autumn Budget Submission 2024

October 2024

Dispelling Six Industry Myths About Alcohol Taxation

January 2024

IAS Autumn Statement Submission 2023

October 2023

How have governments communicated UK alcohol duty policy changes?

June 2023

Spring Budget 2023 Analysis

April 2023

Spring Budget 2023 – IAS submission

February 2023

The COVID Hangover: addressing long-term health impacts of changes in alcohol consumption during the pandemic

July 2022

IAS response to consultation on MUP in Northern Ireland

May 2022

IAS Annual Report 2021/22

May 2022

IAS response to consultation on Alcohol Duty Review

February 2022

October 2021 Budget Analysis

December 2021

Autumn Budget 2021 – IAS submission

September 2021

March 2021 Budget Analysis

April 2021

IAS Alcohol Duty Review Submission

November 2020

Tax after coronavirus: Written Submission from the Institute of Alcohol Studies

October 2020

IAS response to Consultation on the potential approach to duty- and tax-free goods arising from the UK’s new relationship with the EU

May 2020

Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland: What we know so far about its effects on consumption and health harms

May 2020

IAS Budget 2020 analysis

March 2020

Who pays the tab? The distributional effects of UK alcohol taxes

February 2020

Modelling the impact of alcohol duty policies since 2012 in England & Scotland

October 2019

Pour decisions? The case for reforming alcohol duty

Pour decisions

September 2019

IAS Budget 2018 analysis

November 2018

IAS response to Scottish Government consultation on the Minimum Unit Pricing of Alcohol

January 2018

IAS Budget 2017 analysis

December 2017

IAS response to HM Treasury Alcohol structures consultation

June 2017

Cider duty in the Republic of Ireland

June 2017

IAS Budget 2016 analysis

April 2016

Dereliction of duty: Are UK alcohol taxes too low?

March 2016

IAS response to the Review of existing legislation on the structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages

November 2015

IAS response to ‘Alcohol and the Public Purse’

September 2015

The impact of abolishing the alcohol duty escalator

May 2014

IAS response to Home Office consultation on locally set license fees

April 2014

IAS analysis of responses to the Home Office Consultation on minimum pricing

December 2013

Is alcohol too cheap in the UK? The case for setting a Minimum Unit Price for alcohol

April 2013

IAS response to call for evidence on Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill

November 2011

Trends in the affordability of alcohol in Europe

October 2008

Trends in the affordability of alcohol in the UK

September 2008

Use of alcohol as a loss-leader

June 2008

Blogs

12374Behaving irresponsibly: separating UK alcohol industry claims from reality

Behaving irresponsibly: separating UK alcohol industry claims from reality

Emma Thompson

7th July 2025

12333We know MUP works – but we can make it even better

We know MUP works – but we can make it even better

Barney Dowling

3rd June 2025

12139Policies that single out pregnant people’s drinking aren’t working, but there are other policies that appear to help

Policies that single out pregnant people’s drinking aren’t working, but there are other policies that appear to help

Professor Sarah CM Roberts

3rd April 2025

12143Gone but not forgotten: Why was the Northern Territory’s Minimum Unit Price removed?

Gone but not forgotten: Why was the Northern Territory’s Minimum Unit Price removed?

Dr Nic Taylor and Dr Cassandra Wright

1st April 2025

12154How could the US-EU alcohol tariff war affect alcohol consumption and harm?

How could the US-EU alcohol tariff war affect alcohol consumption and harm?

Dr Norman Giesbrecht and Professor Tim Stockwell

25th March 2025

12021Latest Welsh research shows minimum pricing remains a cornerstone of alcohol harm reduction

Latest Welsh research shows minimum pricing remains a cornerstone of alcohol harm reduction

Alcohol Change UK – Wales

20th January 2025

11945“Outta sight, outta mind?”. What do the public and professional stakeholders think about alcohol policy?

“Outta sight, outta mind?”. What do the public and professional stakeholders think about alcohol policy?

Dr Elena D. Dimova

4th December 2024

11766Alcohol trade groups mislead Prime Minister on duty ‘increase’, putting revenue – and lives – at risk

Alcohol trade groups mislead Prime Minister on duty ‘increase’, putting revenue – and lives – at risk

Jem Roberts

9th October 2024

Podcasts

Aveek Bhattacharya

Chancellor keeps off-trade duty in line with RPI while increasing Draught Relief

On this month’s podcast we spoke to Dr Aveek Bhattacharya, Research Director at the Social Market Foundation, about the decisions […]

Dr Aveek Bhattacharya – Social Market Foundation

November 2024

Scotland’s Public Health Supplement and next steps for MUP

In our first podcast of 2024, we spoke to Nicola Merrin, Alcohol Focus Scotland’s (AFS) Policy & Research Manager, about […]

Nicola Merrin – AFS
Dr Alastair Macgilchrist – SHAAP

January 2024

Dr Peter Rice

Duty increases in Spring Budget 2023

On this month’s podcast, we spoke to Dr Peter Rice, an addiction psychiatrist and IAS’s chair, about changes to alcohol […]

Dr Peter Rice – Addiction Psychiatrist
Dr Sadie Boniface – Head of Research, IAS

March 2023

Big change for alcohol duty but will public health win or lose?

We discussed the alcohol duty reforms announced in the Autumn Budget with health economist Colin Angus, including how the reforms […]

Colin Angus – Snr Research Fellow, University of Sheffield

October 2021

Videos

Minimum Unit Pricing: Explained

May 2025

The Price of Alcohol: Explained

March 2024

Who pays the alcohol tab?

February 2020

The problems of cheap, high strength alcohol

November 2017

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  • Price
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