Average price of a pint rises by 10p

The 2020 edition of The Good Pub Guide ​published today (5 September) also revealed a huge £1.11 difference between the cheapest county for a pint and the most expensive.

In Shropshire, a pint of beer costs £3.46 whereas the most expensive average cost was in London at £4.57.

Furthermore, the research also found there are now four areas where the average price is more than £4. These are Sussex (£4.02), Scotland (£4.03), Surrey (£4.06) and London (£4.57), showing there is a 51p difference between London and the next most expensive area – Surrey.

Joining Shropshire in the cheapest counties was Herefordshire (£3.48), Northumbria (£3.52), Yorkshire (£3.53) and Staffordshire (£3.54).

Fair-priced beer

There were eight counties the guide said had ‘fair-priced beer’, which were Worcestershire (£3.56), Northamptonshire (£3.58), Derbyshire (£3.58), Leicestershire (£3.60), Wales (£3.62), Cheshire (£3.63), Cumbria (£3.64) and Dorset (£3.64).

Under the ‘average-priced beer’ category, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Lancashire all had the price of a pint at £3.65.

Following on was Suffolk (£3.70), Bedfordshire (£3.70), Somerset (£3.71), Devon (£3.74), Wiltshire (£3.76), Cornwall (£3.79), Isle of Wight (£3.79), Norfolk (£3.82), Gloucestershire (£3.83), Essex (£3.83), Warwickshire (£3.88) and Hampshire (£3.89).

The more expensive areas were mostly in the south of England, however, there were some exceptions.

Buckinghamshire (£3.91), Oxfordshire (£3.93), Berkshire (£3.95), Nottinghamshire (£3.95), Kent (£3.96), Hertfordshire (£3.97), Sussex (£4.02) and Scotland (£4.03).

Welcoming pubs

However, the top two most expensive areas were Surrey with the average cost of a pint of beer is £4.06 and London at £4.57.

The latest edition of The Good Pub Guide ​highlights how pubs have adapted from the 1970s and editor Fiona Stapley put the most important driver of the changes down to the smoking ban.

She claimed it has meant pubs are now more welcoming for women and families with young children, changing a pub’s fortunes.

Stapley said: “Since we started The Good Pub Guide​ nearly 40 years ago, what has not changed is our enjoyment of a well-run pub – they make us happy.

“They are the hub of a local community where customers of all walks of life and all ages mix easily and are run by extraordinary, hard-working licensees who have adapted their establishments to fit in with the needs and whims of our modern lives. They are uniquely British and should be celebrated. We are very lucky to have them.”