EXCLUSIVE: Average lager pint prices across GB

The average price of a pint of lager from the 18 brands included in the survey was revealed to be £4.98.

This was 28p more than the average from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), where the most up-to-date lager price​ was £4.70 in February 2024.

Looking at the 18 lager brands featured in The Morning Advertiser ​research, Peroni came out as the most expensive with an average price of £5.84 – this was 86p more than the £4.98 average price.

However, Carlsberg was the cheapest pint of lager with an overall average price of £4.25 – 73p less than the average. Furthermore, the price difference between the two brands was £1.59.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London was shown as the most expensive place for a pint of lager with an average cost of £5.59 while the north-east was the cheapest at £4.56 – a difference of more than a £1.

Average lager prices​

Here, we have analysed prices in a regional breakdown.

London

London was the most expensive region in 15 instances across the 18 lager brands and the average lager price was £5.59.

Topping this list as the most expensive brand in the capital was Asahi with an average pint price of £6.80 whereas the cheapest was £2.37 less at £4.43 for Coors Light.

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South-east

The second most expensive average lager cost was in the south-east at £5.21. Once again, Asahi had the highest price and was the only brand to have an average cost of more than £6 in the lager category in this region. This was 86p more than the average cost of a pint of lager in the south-east (£5.21).

There was a difference of £1.80 between the most expensive and cheapest with the lowest price at £4.27 for a pint of Carling – 94p cheaper than the average.

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South-west

For the third time, Asahi was the most expensive pint price in the lager category at £5.70 – 54p more than the average lager pint.

At the other end was a pint of Carlsberg coming in at £4.39 – £1.31 cheaper than Asahi and 77p less than the average.

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North-west and Scotland

The average pint of lager price was £4.87 for both the north-west region and Scotland. In the north-west, Asahi was once again the most expensive at £6.

This was £1.13 more than the average while Carlsberg was the cheapest at £3.76 – £1.11 less than the average and a £2.24 difference to the most expensive.

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For Scotland, Peroni was the cost the most at £6.25 – £1.38 more than the average of £4.87.

The cheapest was £2.35 less than Peroni at £3.90 for a pint of Carling, which was also 97p less than the average.

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Wales and the Midlands

Wales and the Midlands were the second cheapest regions for a pint of lager with an average of £4.74.

Peroni was also the most expensive in Wales – £1.05 more than the average at £5.79 while the cheapest brand was Fosters at £4 – 74p less than the average and £1.79 less than Peroni.

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In the Midlands, Cruzcampo had the highest price – 75p more than the average at £5.49. Carlsberg was the only brand to be available for under £4 at £3.96, a price difference between that and Cruzcampo of £1.53 and a 78p difference with the average lager cost.

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North-east

The least expensive region for a pint of lager was the north-east where the average price was £4.56.

This average was 92p less than the most expensive lager brand (£5.48 for Peroni) while the different between the average and the cheapest (Fosters at £3.84) was 72p.

The price difference between a pint of Peroni and a pint of Fosters in the north-east was £1.64.

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Overall beer price analysis​

The data covered the areas of London, the Midlands, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west, Scotland and Wales and included more than 30 beer brands across the category including lagers, craft, cask and stout.

The Morning Advertiser ​analysed the data and found the average cost of a pint in each of the regions. In London, on average a pint will cost £5.53 – the most expensive. This was followed by the south-east region at £5.15 while in Scotland, it was £5.10.

The south-west price was £5.05, while the average for all the other regions were under a fiver. A pint in the north-west was £4.80, Wales £4.74, the Midlands £4.71 and the north-east had the cheapest priced pint on average at £4.50.

London was the most expensive in 26 instances. For Foster’s, Budweiser and Doom Bar, the south-west was most expensive. The south-east had the priciest pints of Pedigree, Doom Bar (same price as south-west) and Tennent’s Lager.

A pint of Coors Light will cost the most in Wales and the same can be said for Camden Hells while Scotland was the most expensive for a pint of Greene King IPA.

Average pint price

In contrast, the north-east region was the cheapest for 18 of the brands while the Midlands had six of the least expensive pints (Peroni, San Miguel, Budweiser, Corona, Camden Hells and Doom Bar), and the north-west five (Stella Artois, Carlsberg, Camden Pale Ale, London Pride and Pedigree).

Wales was cheapest for a pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Tribute Pale Ale while Scotland had the lowest price for Tennent’s Lager.

At no point were London, the south-east or the south-west the cheapest for any of the brands included in the survey.

Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows as of February 2024, the average cost of a pint of lager is £4.70. However, according to The Morning Advertiser’s ​exclusive figures, the average lager price is more at £4.98.

Furthermore, the overall average price of a pint was £4.94.

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Regional differences

Coming in with the highest pint price of the brands included in the survey was Beavertown Neck Oil, with an average cost of £6.06. Looking at the different regions, in London operators are charging £7 followed by the south-east where it is £6.35. In the south-west, a pint of Beavertown Neck Oil is £6.09 and just a penny cheaper (£6.08) in Wales.

For the Midlands, the price is £5.93 while in the north-west, it is £5.86 and even further north (Scotland), it was £5.81. The north-east was the region charging the least for a pint of Neck Oil at £5.36. This means the disparity between London and the north-east when it comes to the price of this beer is £1.64.

At the other end of the list, Carlsberg had the lowest average pint price at £4.25. In fact, the cost of a pint of Carlsberg in all of the regions was under £5.

However, it is worth noting the average price of Carlsberg wasn’t available in the north-east and Scotland regions.

The most expensive pint of it was in London at £4.83, followed by the south-east at £4.43 with the south-west at £4.39.

A pint of Carlsberg in the Midlands comes in at £3.96 while the north-west charged 20p less at £3.76 – almost half the London price of a pint of Beavertown Neck Oil.