• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Institute of Alcohol Studies HomepageInstitute of Alcohol Studies

Bringing together evidence, policy and practice to reduce alcohol harm

  • Home
  • About us
    • People
    • Our strategy
    • Small Grants Scheme
    • Networks
    • Vacancies
    • Contact us
  • Publications
  • Explore by Topic
    • Alcohol across society
    • Availability
    • Consumption
    • Economy
    • Health
    • Marketing
    • Price
    • The alcohol industry
    • Transport
    • Violence and crime
    • Help and support
  • News & Comment
    • Latest news and events
    • Blog
    • Alcohol Alert
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • See all
  • Search

IAS Budget 2017 analysis

View this report

view

  • Alcohol duty was cut in real terms for the fifth year out of six
  • A new duty rate for ciders between 6.9% and 7.5% was announced, to come into effect in February 2019
  • This is intended to incentivise strong cider producers to reformulate their products – if it works, a three-litre bottle of white cider will contain 20.4 rather than 22.5 units
  • Accounting for inflation, beer duty is now 16% lower than in 2012; cider and spirits duty 8% lower, and wine duty 2% lower
  • Cumulatively, these policies will cost the Treasury over £1 billion in 2018/19, and a total of £8.1 billion in the ten years to 2023
  • Lower duty causes death and illness – the 2015 Budget was estimated to cause 6,500 more hospitalisations each year due to alcohol
  • The evidence that duty cuts benefitted pubs is sketchy, as brewers have retained the savings and off-licenses have continued to undercut them

View this report

view

Footer

IAS is proud to be a member of

  • Twitter
  • Bluesky
  • Spotify
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Contact us

©2025 Institute of Alcohol Studies

Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok