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Wine beats beer as UK’s ‘drink of choice’
Wine is now the most alcoholic drink in the UK having overtaken beer, according to research commissioned by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).
Of the 4,049 adults surveyed by YouGov, 60% said they would choose wine over other alcoholic drinks – indicating the equivalent of 30 million regular wine consumers in the UK.
Furthermore, wine was the preferred drink for more 25 to 34 year olds than ever before, with 57% choosing wine over other alcoholic drinks.
The WSTA said its research proved wine was no longer “just for connoisseurs”, but enjoyed by the “majority of people across all ages, regions and social classes”.
Commenting on its findings, wine writer Matthew Jukes said: “This polling finally dispels the myth that wine is elitist. It is the most popular alcoholic drink in the UK, which makes the fact that it is so highly taxed a complete anomaly. Why should consumers be paying so much for a bottle of wine, when we all know how much cheaper a really great quality wine is when we go abroad for our holidays?”
The UK wine industry is worth £17.3bn to the British economy, supports nearly 270,000 jobs and contributes £8.6bn to the public finances annually. However, tax paid on the wine sold in the UK is currently at a record high with UK consumers currently paying nearly 60% tax on an average priced bottle of wine. The last tax cut on wine was in 1984.
The WSTA launched a campaign last year calling for a 2% cut in duty on wine and spirits, in partnership with the Scotch Whisky Association and Tax Payers’ Alliance, which it says will result in a £1.5 billion boost to public finances in 2015.
Beale said: “By cutting the duty on wine, the Chancellor would provide welcome relief for a growing British industry and a drink much loved by millions of consumers, as well as generating an increase of more than £1billion annually for the public finances.”
While wine is the nations favoured alcoholic drink, consumption of alcohol in the UK has been steadily dropping over the past 10 years. HMRC data shows that total alcohol consumption per head fell by 18.4% between 2004 and 2013, from 9.5 litres of pure alcohol per person to 7.7 litres.