UK beer sales and strength 1961 - 2024

Yet more numbers today. And more to come. I need to build up a buffer of posts to cover my trip to Brazil in a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to getting away from the cold weather.

This time I didn't have any problem with older numbers. So I've added some going back to 1961. The only slight hiccup was with the sales figures, which I had to convert from barrels to hectolitres.

Let's start with sales. Which in 1961 were just starting to increase after more than a decade of decline. That rise in sales continued until 1979. Since when, other than a blip in the late 1980s, has been falling steadily. And is now below the level of 1961. The drop is more considerable, really, given the substantial increase in population between 1961 and today (52.8 to 69.5 million.).

The fall in sales between the 1979 peak and 2024 is 38%. Will they ever increase again? I wouldn't like to guess. It's impossible to predict how thirsty drinkers will be for beer in 50 years' time.

You'll have noticed that beer strength is measured in two different ways. First in original gravity, then in ABV. There's a reason for that. The change in the tax system from one based on OG before fermentation to one based on the ABV of the finished beer. The numbers are derived from the tax paid.

During the OG period, there's bugger all variation: low of 1036.9º, high of 1038.2. Just 3.4%. In the ABV period, it jumps around a lot more: 4.06% to 4.57%. That's an 11.2% variation. There's no clear long-term trend, either. With it going up and down a few times. I've no idea why that should be. Recent tax changes favouring beer up to 3.4% ABV might have an impact in the next couple of years. 

UK beer sales and strength 1961 - 2024
Year	thousand hl	Average strength % abv	Average gravity
1961	47,100		1037.41
1962	47,500		1037.70
1963	47,800		1037.70
1964	50,100		1037.66
1965	50,100		1037.67
1966	51,300		1037.63
1967	52,200		1037.46
1968	53,400		1037.36
1969	55,700		1037.14
1970	57,302		1036.90
1971	59,647		1036.90
1972	60,500		1036.90
1973	63,600		1037.00
1974	65,400		1037.10
1975	66,600		1037.30
1976	68,000		1037.50
1977	67,000		1037.50
1978	68,200		1037.60
1979	69,500		1037.60
1980	67,095		1037.60
1981	63,600		1037.30
1982	62,000		1037.20
1983	62,600		1037.20
1984	62,400		1037.40
1985	61,815		1037.40
1986	62,289		1037.50
1987	62,803		1038.00
1988	63,277		1037.70
1989	63,215		1038.20
1990	65,207		1038.00
1991	63,073		1037.70
1992	60,881		1037.30
1993	59,177		1037.43
2000	56,570	4.57%
2001	56,659	4.56%
2002	57,512	4.53%
2003	58,099	4.49%
2004	58,330	4.53%
2005	57,121	4.45%
2006	56,377	4.47%
2007	54,261	4.48%
2008	51,523	4.45%
2009	49,448	4.40%
2010	47,707	4.48%
2011	46,605	4.42%
2012	44,239	4.17%
2013	44,186	4.14%
2014	44,336	4.16%
2015	44,139	4.20%
2016	43,734	4.21%
2017	44,051	4.06%
2018	45,306	4.08%
2019	46,012	4.16%
2020	39,493	4.26%
2021	41,819	4.10%
2022	44,217	4.28%
2023	43,485	4.32%
2024	43,153
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1971, p. 45
Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005, p. 7
The Brewers' Society Statistical Handbook 1988, page 9.