Yahoo Finance The cost of Britain's favourite tipple has increased 6%
Gin drinkers are having to swallow an average 6% rise in the price of their favourite tipple.
While analysts say sales of gin are climbing, so is the price of a bottle as the rise in excise duty kicks in.
Research by BrandView shows the price of a bottle of Beefeater gin rose by 6.3% to £17, while Plymouth Gin climbed by 7% to £25.50.
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Bombay Sapphire – seen increasingly on the optics at pubs up and down the country – rose by 3.8% to £20.75, while posh brand Hendrick’s was also up by an average 3.8% to £28.
And the industry fears further rises could soon be on the way if chancellor Philip Hammond ups taxes on spirits again in his November budget.
BrandView said prices had risen across 127 gin products while fellow analysts Kantar Worldpanel reported sales were up £45million (13.5%).
Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, said: “This is consistent with what you would expect to see following a rise in excise duty of 3.9%.”
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He told trade magazine The Grocer: “Currently, 77% of the average priced bottle of gin goes on tax – duty plus VAT – meaning upwards of £10.35 can go directly to the Treasury.”
Gin sales increased “dramatically” in the year ending to June 2017, surpassing £500 million, according to the WSTA market report.
Earlier this year, HM Revenue & Customs reported that tax revenues from sales of spirits had overtaken those from beer for the first time amid record sales of gin.
Duties from spirits, which includes whisky and gin, rose by 7% to £3.37bn for the tax year 2016-17, while beer duty edged up by just 1% to £3.32bn.
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The number of distilleries in the UK has risen by a fifth in the last year to 131, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young.
It said the explosion in popularity of artisan gin was driving the boom.
James Simmonds, of UHY Hacker Young, said: “The gin-naissance shows no signs of abating, with the industry going from strength to strength.
“Five years ago, artisan gin was a relatively unknown product, but now it’s very common to see five or 10 different premium gins on the menu or on a supermarket shelf.”
