UK beer sales dropped by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same period last year, according to latest figures from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).
The figures, which mark by far the highest first-quarter fall since 1997, show that 1.7 million fewer pints were drunk every day from January to March, than in the same period in 2007.
Compared with the first quarter ten years ago, 326 million fewer pints were sold across the country– a decline of 3.6 million pints a day, the UK Quarterly Beer Barometer reveals.
Beer sales in pubs, bars and restaurants were down 6.3% on the same quarter in 2007 – equating to 753,000 fewer pints every day. In total, 68 million fewer pints were sold in the on-trade during January to March 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.
Falling sales are hitting government duty revenues hard and must raise questions over the Government’s continued policy of raising beer tax, according to the BBPA.
Tax income from duty in January and February was down £17m on the same period in 2008, despite an 18% tax increase during the period.
David Long, BBPA chief executive, said: “These figures provide more telling evidence of the intense pressure in one of Britain’s most important sectors.
“Falling beer sales means more publicans struggling to keep their pub doors open. Closing pubs means tens of thousands of job losses and the heart taken out of many communities.”
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By Daniel Thomas
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