Tough Times in England

1.7 million fewer pints drunk every day this year due to recession - Telegraph

1.7 million fewer pints drunk every day this year due to recession
Nearly 150 million fewer pints of beer have been consumed this year compared with a year ago, as higher taxes and the recession prompted the biggest slump since 1997.


By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 7:00PM BST 27 Apr 2009
Pint of beer being poured in a pub: 1.7 million fewer pints drunk every day this year, as recession hits drinkers
For a long time the amount of beer drunk in the country has been falling, as consumers switch to an ever wider variety of alcohol, especially wine Photo: AP

In the first three months of this year the equivalent of 1.67 billion pints of beer were drink in Britain – a fall of 8.2 per cent, or 1.7 million pints a day – on the first quarter of last year.

The figures, published by the British Beer & Pub Association, are the latest evidence that the brewing industry is being hit hard by the recession.

For a long time the amount of beer drunk in the country has been falling, as consumers switch to an ever wider variety of alcohol, especially wine.

However, the trend has been exacerbated in the last few years by inflation-busting increases in beer duty, which has caused the average price of a pint of bitter to jump from £1.95 four years ago to £2.41.

Sales at supermarkets and off licenses fell more heavily than at pubs, with so-called off-trade outlets dropping by 11 per cent, and pubs, bars and restaurants down 6.3 per cent.

It is the "highest quarter fall since 1997", a spokesman said. David Long, the chief executive of the association, said: "These figures provide more telling evidence of the intense pressure in one of Britain's most important sectors.

"Falling beer sales means more publicans struggling to keep their pub doors open. Closing pubs means tens of thousands of job losses and the heart taken out of many communities."

Analysts pointed out that the figures were skewed by the Easter double bank holiday – a major entertainment weekend – falling in the first quarter of 2008, but occurring in April this year. They said it was not all that surprising, therefore, that sales from supermarkets had fallen.

or is it 1.7 mill pints of home made craft brew drank this year?

Yeah I blamed Orfy when I heard it awhile ago.

Damn Brits Aren't Doing Enough For The Global Economy!

I would expect the number of pints per day to go UP during a recession, just cheaper beer being consumed. Maybe they are turning more to hard liquer.

I don't think the recession is the reason for the drop in consumption. Alcohol intake usually increases during a recession, as a previous poster pointed out. The reason is likely tied more to the huge tax increases the British government has levied on pubs. The government increased beer tax by 18 per cent in 2008 alone, which contributed to the closure of 2,200 pubs,the loss of 20,000 industry jobs, and has cost the Treasury £242m (that's million pounds). Goes to show that you can't tax your way to prosperity.

The fund I work at owns a company that provides gaming machines to pubs in the UK (big business there). The issue is that prices have gone up so much at pubs and pubs (to my knowledge) really used to be a meeting place/an everyday hangout, not like going to a bar once/twice a week as in the US. Now with the increased prices and recession, people are either not going to pubs at all or drinking at home more and frequenting pubs less. The number of pubs closing per week is staggering, and saddening, these are (sometimes) small, family businesses and community meeting places.

Hell, with the economy and the results of the last election, I'm drinking MORE.

More of my brew, true, but still more.

Aren't alcohol sales through the roof in the US? At the liquor store near my house, they are having issues keeping a lot of stuff in stock. And not just the cheap stuff, either.

Could the new ordinances on smoking play apart of the pub population decline? They did something similar over here and passed a HUGE tax increase on tobacco, to even include roll your own, the equivalent of home brewing in the smoking world. I mean, smokes go up, beer goes up, you can't smoke at a pub anymore....why even bother going out? Brew and Roll Your Own at the house. I know a lot of folks over here are making their own bars at the house, myself included.

Definitely correct Ol Grog, smoking ban killed these guys last year in England. Same thing happened with casinos in AC and elsewhere. Can usually expect a 10-25% decline in sales/revenues from a smoking ban.

I haven't been to a bar in Ohio since they started the smoking ban. Then again, there are no bars or pubs here that I ever gave a crap about anyway.