A new report by the Social Market Foundation and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) has found that the alcohol industry costs the economy roughly the same amount as it generates for the economy, and that restricting marketing is unlikely to have any impact on the Scottish economy.
The report, Getting in the spirit? Alcohol and the Scottish economy, shows that:
- 4.9% of the Scottish economy (£8.1bn) can be attributed to the sale of alcohol, around 60% of which comes from whisky exports
- 99% of whisky produced in Scotland is exported
- Alcohol’s share of employment (2.4%) is half its share of GDP because whisky production is not labour intensive
- Around half of the 60,000 Scottish jobs related to alcohol are in pubs, bars and restaurants – these are some of the lowest paying jobs in the economy
- The societal costs of alcohol go far beyond the £1.2bn estimated economic cost – including the £ value put on lost life, the costs are comparable to alcohol’s contribution to GDP – amounting to between £5-10bn
- Scots drink considerably more wine, beer and vodka than whisky
Discussing the proposed marketing restrictions, the report author, Dr Aveek Bhattacharya, wrote:
“Marketers are good at spinning romantic yarns, playing up the traditional image of Scotland as a country of tartan, heather and, yes, whisky. But good public policy needs to be founded in realism – recognising the Scotland that actually exists, a place of vodka drinkers and chronic public health problems. Changing that won’t hurt the economy, but it might save some lives.”