Football fans will flock to pubs over the next month to watch the World Cup but the price of a pint has risen sharply since the competition was last held.
The tournament begins on Thursday as co-hosts Mexico take on South Africa, with Scotland and England to begin their campaigns on Sunday and next Wednesday respectively.
It is estimated around 55 million additional pints could be poured across the UK if Harry Kane’s side make it to the final, held in New Jersey on 19 July.
For each pub across the country, this could translate to the average venue selling an extra 1,240 pints, or an extra 14 kegs, across the tournament.
But each of those pints will cost customers almost a quarter more than they did during the 2022 tournament. According to the Office for National Statistics, the average price of a pint of draught beer in the UK in 2022 was £4.03.
The average price now is £5.01 across the country, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which is a 24.3 per cent increase since the Qatar tournament in 2022. And many punters see much higher prices for a pint, especially in London.
The Independent has spoken to several pub landlords and owners in recent months, who said the conditions in which they have to operate are now as tough as they have ever been – giving them no choice but to increase prices.
According to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), 593 pub businesses have closed across the UK so far this year amid a punishing financial climate.
James Nye, managing director of Anglian Country Inns, which runs 10 pubs across Hertfordshire and Norfolk, told The Independent last year that increased energy prices and taxes – such as national insurance contributions and a cut in business rate relief – have meant the industry has been taken “out of the frying pan into the fire on multiple occasions”.
Mr Nye said: “You’ve got to pass the cost on. We haven’t passed all of it on, but you’ve got to pass some of it on, and things become a lot more expensive.
“When customers see us putting prices up, they think we’re benefiting from it, but actually the government is taking so much tax out of that pint, it’s not getting to the bottom line.
“The bottom line is diminishing even though the top line is increasing – I think that’s the scary thing. The biggest proportion of all of that is tax.”
The BBPA says that pubs only see 12p of profit from a £5.01 pint, with £1.60 being taxed through business rates, duty, and other taxes, while £3.29 goes to covering other costs. As such, they are calling on the government to offer tax relief to pubs.
The organisation says England fans will pay 54p in beer duty on their pint while drinking in the UK, which is the highest of the country’s Group L competitors in the tournament.
Ghana levies a beer duty rate of 44p per pint, above Panama and Croatia, which charge 13.8p and 12.6p per pint respectively, it says.
Though a World Cup boost could bring in £275m for pubs, according to the BBPA, its chief executive Emma McClarkin said the “government can further support our pubs and brewers by cutting beer duty to the European average so we can keep a pint affordable for all”.
CAMRA is also calling for a cut in the tax burden on pubs and bars.
Its chair, Ash Corbett-Collins, said “we risk losing these vital community social hubs forever” unless alcohol duty, employer National Insurance contributions, and VAT are cut, alongside a different business rate system.
“Running a pub business in the current financial climate is extremely difficult,” he added. “Pint prices are rising at the same time consumers are tightening their pockets through the cost-of-living crisis.
“But brewers and publicans are not to blame. Between alcohol duties rising, grossly unfair business rates and increased employer national insurance contributions on top of sky-high energy bills, financial pressures have left pubs no choice but to increase pint prices or close their doors for good.”
Pubs will be allowed to stay open until 2am if any of the home nations make it to the knockout stage at this summer’s men’s football tournament.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday red tape “should not get in the way of fans enjoying the game with friends and local pubs doing a great trade too”.
“A pavement pint in the sunshine discussing the agony of penalties and soaking up the atmosphere is what pubs are all about and we are backing them,” he said.
“Let’s hope we get a summer of fans enjoying great England wins on the big screen in packed pub gardens.”
The Independent has approached the Treasury for comment.
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