Pint at local now ‘luxury’ after post-pandemic price increases

The simple pleasure of enjoying a pint down the local is becoming “a luxury”, warn beer campaigners. The same drink was typically priced £4.45 in February 2023, meaning that a pint costs almost 6 per cent more than 12 months ago. ‘Punishing economic landscape’ Nik Antona, the chairman of Campaign for Real Ale, said: “The escalation of beer prices, as displayed in the ONS data, threatens to render a pint in the humble local a luxury. “Pubs and consumers will feel the squeeze as the price of a pint continues to climb.” Mr Antona added: “Pubs, social clubs and taprooms don’t wish to pass on the high prices to their loyal patrons, but with the costs of goods, energy bills and employing staff at sky-high levels, plus the burden of unfair business rates, closing would be the only other choice. “Simultaneous economic crises have meant that price increases are no longer unexpected, but instead are now a grim reflection of modern life.” Draught lager prices have risen by nearly 41 per cent over the past decade, the figures show, with a pint at £3.34 in February 2014.