Pint prices jump 4.6% for second month in a row

According to the data, the average cost of a pint of draught lager in pubs jumped from £4.56 in May last year to £4.77, an increase of 4.6%.

Pint prices​ saw the same increase last month, with previous figures​ from ONS having estimated draught lager costs had risen from £4.54 in April 2023 to £4.75.

In addition, draught lager prices saw a 0.5% upswing overall during the first quarter​ of 2024.

Price hikes 

When compared with pre-pandemic levels a pint of lager now costs 29.2% more than it did in 2019, analysis of the numbers by the Morning Advertiser (MA)​ showed, with prices having risen from £3.69 against the equivalent period five years ago.

Moreover, the figures, based on data collated from pubs across the country​, has soared by 41.5% in the past decade, from £3.37 in May 2014 to £4.56 in May this year.

The increase was also the second biggest YOY uptick in May in the past 10 years, with the highest being between May 2021 and 2022, when prices soared by 11.4% from £4.09 to £4.56.

Meanwhile draught bitter prices rose 2.6% in the year to May, up from £3.80 last year to £3.90.

Tough times

Against pre-pandemic levels bitter costs have increased by 26.6%, up from £3.08 in May 2019, and 33% over the past decade, up from £2.93 in May 2014.

Society of Independent Brewers & Associates (SIBA) head of comms Neil Walker​ told the MA: "As we have seen by the high level of brewery closures over the last twelve months, it's a tough time to turn a profit for small independent breweries, many of whom are struggling with lingering Covid debt.

"The price of a pint on the bar is one small factor in those profit margins and often any rise in the price of a pint in pubs is not passed on to the small breweries who supply them, if they can get access at all.

"In SIBA's election manifesto we have called on the next Government to raise draught duty relief to 20%, create a fairer tax system with no special treatment for cider, and freeze beer duty - all of which will help keep the price of a pint on the bar affordable."