Beer sales rise dramatically in first quarter

Almost 450m more pints were sold in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 2021, thanks to the ending of all Covid-19 restrictions in pubs.

New data from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) shows 1,565,300,000 pints of beer were sold in the UK from January to March 2022 - a 40% increase on the year before.

However, these numbers are still down 4% on 2019 trading, the last year before the pandemic took hold.

The BBPA says that brewers and pubs are still struggling to keep their heads above water in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and as a result have not returned to the same profitability of 2019 despite sales rising.

“It is brilliant to see that sales of beer are on the up again after a tough two years for pubs and brewers," says Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA. "This data clearly shows that a beer at the local is something many of us missed during the pandemic.

“However, even as sales start to rise again, our industry is facing enormous pressures with costs rising, supply chain issues and a staffing crisis, so we hope people will take a trip to their local pub and raise a toast to the nation’s favourite drink.”

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