Cost of living

After inflation, beer from shops costs 50% less than in 1987

Price of beer bought in pubs and bars and of beer bought from shops, after inflation, compared with January 1987, UK, monthly, 1987 to 2026. 1 is the January 1987 price; above 1, beer has gone up faster than prices in general.

Beer in pubs costs 17% more after inflation. Compared with prices in general on the Retail Prices Index, in August 2026.

Latest figures

Findings

• A pint of lager cost £4.83 in January 2025, against 92p in February 1987

Notes

• After inflation means the beer price divided by the rise in prices in general since January 1987: a line at 1 means beer went up exactly as fast as prices in general, and a line at 0.5 means it costs half as much as it did, compared with everything else.
• The lines follow the prices of the same kinds of beer over time, in a sample of pubs, bars and shops across the UK, weighted by how much people spend on each. Beer in pubs and bars includes beer bought in clubs, restaurants and hotels.
• Prices in general is the Retail Prices Index for all goods and services, not just beer. The prices come from the Retail Prices Index (RPI) because it is the only official measure that prices beer in pubs and beer from shops separately back to 1987. The ONS no longer treats the RPI as a good measure of inflation overall: it tends to rise faster than the ONS's main measure, CPIH.
• Prices at the time shows the ONS average price of a pint in pubs and bars, which it published until January 2025, when it stopped publishing average prices. It publishes no average price for beer from shops.

Sources

• Office for National Statistics, Consumer price inflation (RPI beer on sales DOBI, beer off sales DOBJ, all items CHAW, and average prices CZMS and CZMT)

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