Supermarket beer sales beat pubs for second year running

Sales of beer from supermarkets and off-licences remained above that of pubs, bars and restaurants last year.

Based on HMRC alcohol tax receipts, 51 per cent of the 7.7 billion pints of beer sold last year were off-trade, says the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

This marks the second successive year that beer sales for on-premises consumption lagged behind, after this happened for the first time on record in 2014.

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"Venues where drinkers can buy and consume beer have been steadily losing ground to supermarkets for many years… due to being unable to compete with aggressive promotions," says The Guardian.

This weekend, Tesco was selling a multipack containing 18 cans of Stella Artois for £14, or around £1 a pint, while at Asda, a 20-can pack of Carlsberg was available for £10, or 65p a pint.

In comparison, the average cost of a pint of lager at a pub can cost between £2.40 and £4.70 – 38 per cent up on a decade ago. Over the same period, the number of pubs operating across the country has fallen from 58,200 to 50,200.

The BBPA said a major factor was the burden of tax, which is 54 per cent higher than it was in 2000, despite recent cuts, and has called on the Chancellor to reduce beer duties in his Autumn Statement next month.

Britain's consumption of beer and alcohol generally was stable last year, with both remaining below the European average after years of decline.

The UK is now only the 14th biggest beer-drinking nation in the continent at 119 pints per head, the Daily Mirror says. That compares to 253 pints in the Czech Republic and 188 in Germany – and to the 204 pints Brits were downing on average in 1980.

The BBPA pointed out that beer tax in the UK stands at 52p per pint, compared with just 4p in Germany.

All of this has not stopped the number of breweries exploding, as a trend for artisanal craft ales and lagers drives a huge increase in smaller producers. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of active breweries in the UK increased by 1,380.