London pubs and brewers pump more than £3bn into economy

The City of London and Westminster are the constituencies with the most pub-related employment in the UK, according to latest research.

A study by Oxford Economics, commissioned by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), reveals how regions across the country contribute to the economy via pubs and brewing.

Unsurprisingly the capital makes the biggest contribution to the economy. It has 4,575 pubs, 35 breweries and employs just shy of 100,000 people in the sector who earn a combined wage packet of £2bn. Overall London pubs and its breweries pump £3.2bn into the economy.

Meanwhile the parliamentary constituency that has the most brewing related employment (2,200 jobs), according to the report is Bury St Edmunds - the home of Greene King.

The BBPA is using the stats to try and persuade the government not to put up beer duty by the expected seven per cent at next week's Budget.

The body claims such a rise could do serious harm to communities across the country.

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "These figures show what a huge impact beer and pubs have, especially in terms of local jobs.

"Beer is vital to the economy and pubs are the heart of our communities.

"The last thing local pubs and pubgoers need is a further Beer Tax hike in the Budget next week, when instead we could be leading the economy out of recession and creating local jobs."

Nationwide, the figures show that:

• 980,000 people in the UK depend on beer and pubs for work

• The beer and pub trade adds more than £21bn to the UK economy every year

• £13.4bn in UK wages are dependent on the trade, each year

Biggest contributors to the economy

London - £3.2bn (4,575 pubs, 35 breweries)

Scotland - £1.5bn (4,874 pubs, 57 breweries)

West Midlands - £1.1bn (1,745 pubs, 24 breweries)

Wales - £1bn - (3,593 pubs, 47 breweries)

West Yorkshire - £631m (2,101 pubs, 55 breweries)