All cheers as beer sales increase

Beer sales are up for the first time in four years, figures show
12 April 2012

Quarterly beer sales are up on 12 months ago for the first time in four years, figures have showed.

Warm weather and the World Cup is thought to be responsible for the 2.9% increase, the first like-for-like quarterly rise since the second quarter of 2006, according to the latest UK Quarterly Beer Barometer.

Pub beer sales were down 6.3% on the same period in 2009.

Sales in supermarkets and shops rose by 13.7% in the second quarter, with year-on-year sales also up by 4.4%.

The beer market is down year on year by 1.4% - a significant slowdown in the rate of decline and the best result since the second quarter of 2006.

British Beer and Pub Association chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "The World Cup has certainly been a benefit to Britain's beer sector and we can now hope that the market is starting to turn a corner.

"However, while there is some reason for cheer, it has to be noted that beer sales in pubs are still falling and the nation's pubs need support.

"The Government must carefully consider how best to use its Review of Alcohol Taxation to rebalance the tax system, freeze beer tax and support Britain's pubs, recognising the economic and social contribution of these vital community assets.

"Sixty per cent of drink sales in community pubs are beer, so a beer tax break would be a real benefit to their business."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in