Briefing: the cost of beer duty

Overview:

  • At £0.60 per pint at five per cent abv, the UK has the second highest beer duty of any country when compared with EU member states. This is double Slovenia’s; almost quadruple Denmark’s; and more than any EU country England or Scotland can play in the Euro 2024 football championship.

  • Finland is the only EU member state with a higher level of beer duty than the UK (£0.94 per pint).

  • It is estimated that 300 million pints will be sold during the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, raising more than £1.4 billion for the hospitality sector. However, £180 million of this will be for beer duty and £237.5 million for VAT. Together, this means 29 per cent of the value of pints sold, or £417.5 million, will be paid in taxes.

  • Since 2010, duty on the average strength beer has increased by 21.3 per cent. Without beer duty the average cost of a pint would be reduced from £4.75 to £4.03.

 

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