Cost of a beer in the UK

If you are visiting the UK, try the local beer. The pint is more than a drink here — it is close to a national institution, and for plenty of people a daily ritual. So how much does a beer cost in the UK? It depends where you drink and what you order. A lager in a chain pub is one price; a craft beer in central London is another. Here is the honest breakdown.

What’s the average price of a pint in the UK?

At the time of writing, the average draught pint in the UK costs about £5.50. In 2024 it was £5.17, so that is a rise of around 6%. It has not put anyone off: consumption has held steady.

Draught lager comes in at about £5 on average. Craft beers and the fancier lagers cost more; a chain pub with its cheaper house options costs less. Pubs will tell you their margins are thin, and that crossing the £5 mark was a necessity, not a choice. They still try to keep the price low enough that the regulars keep coming.

How prices vary by region

London is the most expensive place to drink in the UK, as you might expect. The average pint runs from about £6.10 to £6.80, and it creeps past £7 in the centre — Soho included. In an upmarket venue you can pay over £8. None of it is a bargain; all of it is London.

Elsewhere, Edinburgh, Winchester, Bath and Brighton all sit around the £6 mark, above the national average. The cheapest regions are the Midlands, Wales and the north of England, where a pint averages between £4.21 and £4.70.

For the budget end, Dundee, Hull and Bradford will get you a pint for £3.60 to £4. So yes: in London you pay more. It is not a problem exactly, just a fact of the city — and worth knowing before you order your third round.

Popular beer brands in the UK

Cheaper brands — Foster’s, Carlsberg, Tennent’s Lager — usually run from £3.50 to £4.20. The mid-range staples, Guinness and Carling, will set you back £5.50 to £6.50 in London.

Fancier lagers — Birra Moretti, Peroni, Asahi — are usually over £6. Craft beers like BrewDog Punk IPA and Beavertown Neck Oil can push past £7. As a rule of thumb, expect to pay over £4.20 for a pint anywhere in the UK — and close to double that if you want something special in London.

How to drink for less

If you want to keep the cost down, the supermarket is your friend. A pint from the off-licence costs around £2 — about half the pub price. San Miguel multipacks are the usual choice, and Lidl and Aldi have their own decent lagers for less again. It is not the same as a pub pint, obviously, but the wallet notices the difference.

How prices have changed over the years

The trend is one way: up. In 1987 a pound bought you an average pint. Before Covid it was £3.70 to £4. Now the average is past £5.50, and inflation, energy costs and world events are all pushing it higher. For more on how the pub got here, read our short history of pubs.

What drives beer prices in the UK?

A few factors keep pushing the price up. The main ones:

• Alcohol duty and taxation. The UK taxes beer heavily — the duty raises around £13 billion a year — and those costs feed straight into the pump price. Draught beer duty sits at 3.6% with RPI, and draught relief has been increased to 13.9%.
• Inflation. Energy, staffing and ingredients all cost more, and that shows up at the bar.
• Supply chains. Many are still recovering from the pandemic and Brexit.
• Home drinking and moderation. More people drink at home and drink less when they go out, which has cut the volume pubs sell.

The result is that pubs are closing, because the margins are so thin. A pub has to keep the bar busy to stay open, and too many cannot.

Conclusion

Prices keep climbing, year on year. People still go to the pub, because a pint is not just a drink — it is how the country relaxes, and has done for centuries. The average pint is no longer cheap. But there are still affordable corners if you know where to look. And there is always the first round, which is the best one.

 

Experience London’s pubs for yourself

Reading about pub culture is one thing, but tasting it is another. Join our London Pub & Historic Tavern Tour and let a local guide walk you through the city’s most atmospheric pubs, or add the Pub Food Tour for classic British bites like pies and scotch eggs.

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