Beer sales plummet in on-trade

By James Wilmore

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Beer sales Great depression

Beer sales in the on-trade are down 10.6 per cent since last year, according to new figures. Pubs, bars and restaurants sold 144 million less pints...

Beer sales in the on-trade are down 10.6 per cent since last year, according to new figures.

Pubs, bars and restaurants sold 144 million less pints between April and June this year compared to the same quarter last year - 1.6 million pints fewer a day.

Total beer sales in all sectors were down 4.5 per cent in the same quarter.

The figures are included in the UK Quarterly Beer Barometer, a new initiative launched by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

The group also estimated the Treasury has collected £88m less in beer duty and VAT than in the same period last year.

But it said that off-trade sales had continued to rise with a 3.8 per cent increase on April to June 2007, confirming a long-term trend towards home drinking.

The figures add yet more weight to growing concerns over pub closures, the impact of rising prices and shrinking consumer confidence, the BBPA said.

Rob Hayward, the BBPA's chief executive said: "Beer sales are on the slide and the tax increase in the Budget has made it worse.

"This is hitting Britain's brewers and pubs hard. It's also creating a large hole in the Chancellor's pocket with the Treasury's tax take also down.

"This must call into question the Government's planned beer tax escalator. Where's the logic in taxing more when you're taking less?"

Beer sales are now at their lowest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Hayward added, and down seven million pints a day from the height of the market in 1979.

Over the first half of 2008, on-trade sales are down 9.6 per cent, while off-trade sales are up 7.4 per cent.

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