Beer prices sky-rocket by 11.8%
Released earlier this week (Wednesday 22 March), the data showed the cost of a pint of lager in a pub had risen by 47p (11.8%) year-on-year from £3.98 in February last year compared with £4.45 this year.
Moreover, draught lager prices saw a 22p (5.2%) upswing month-on-month from £4.23.
Additionally, the cost of a pint of draught bitter saw an 8.2% (30p) increase during this period, from £3.40 in February 2022 to £3.70 in February 2023.
Surge in prices
Month-on-month draught bitter prices saw an increase of 13p (3.6%) from £3.57.
This follows a 1.9% and 0.8% surge in draught lager and bitter prices respectively in the three months to January this year, according to previous ONS data.
In addition, a snap poll by The Morning Advertiser earlier this month revealed almost a third (30%) of operators had increased beer prices by more than 5% while almost a quarter (23%) had raised costs by more than 10% over the past six months.
This comes as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week announced an increase to draught duty relief as part of the spring Budget.
Hunt detailed from August this year, the duty on draught products in pubs will up to 11p lower than the duty in supermarkets.
Catastrophic impact
Though many across the sector felt the Budget “did not go far enough” and that anything less than “equality” with retail was “economically counterproductive”.
British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “The cut to draught duty as part of the alcohol duty reform is positive and we hope it will result in a boost for our pubs this summer.
"However, the fact is, our industry will be facing an overall tax hike not a reduction come August.
"Duty on non-draught beer will rise and the measures introduced [in the Budget] won’t rebalance the catastrophic impact soaring inflation and unfair energy contracts."
