# Alcohol duties url: https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/alcohol-duty/ updated: 29 September 2026 licence: Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Figures: each source's own licence, listed under Sources. publisher: [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) # Alcohol duties Last updated 29 September 2026. Figures refresh every night. [How each figure is worked out](/methodology/). **A duty on alcoholic drinks, charged by the amount of pure alcohol in them, with VAT then charged on top of the duty.** Producers and importers pay it; it is in the shelf price, so drinkers bear it. It raised **£12.4bn** in 2025–26, which is 1.3% of everything HMRC collects and 0.41% of the economy. That is down £181m (1.4%) on the year before. Figures for the 2025–26 financial year. Source: [HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk). ## Key figures - £12.4bnRaised in 2025–26 ▼ - 1.3%Of everything HMRC collects ▼ 2025–26 - 0.41%Of the whole economy (GDP) ▼ 2025–26 - -21.8%In real terms, against the 2021–22 peak Adjusted for inflation with the GDP deflator As of 6 April 2025 Sources: [HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk), [HM Treasury](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp). ## What is the short version? - **How big:** £12.4bn in 2025–26, 1.3% of everything HMRC collects; after inflation, 16% less than in 2015–16. - **Latest change, 2023:** The system is rebuilt around alcohol content, with draught relief for pubs. - **Where it goes:** Nowhere in particular, like almost every tax: it is not earmarked. - **The argument:** Alcohol imposes costs on others through health, policing and lost work; against that, it takes a larger share of income from poorer drinkers. ## How much does it raise? **Alcohol duties receipts, cash and real terms** **The numbers behind this chart** | Financial year | Cash | Real, 2025-26 prices | | --- | --- | --- | | 2006–07Details | £7,913m | £12,953m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£12,953m | | | | 2007–08Details | £8,302m | £13,329m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£13,329m | | | | 2008–09Details | £8,470m | £13,110m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£13,110m | | | | 2009–10Details | £9,012m | £13,771m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£13,771m | | | | 2010–11Details | £9,396m | £14,117m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,117m | | | | 2011–12Details | £10,037m | £14,765m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,765m | | | | 2012–13Details | £10,220m | £14,778m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,778m | | | | 2013–14Details | £10,455m | £14,810m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,810m | | | | 2014–15Details | £10,490m | £14,652m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,652m | | | | 2015–16Details | £10,687m | £14,825m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,825m | | | | 2016–17Details | £11,155m | £15,170m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£15,170m | | | | 2017–18Details | £11,440m | £15,363m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£15,363m | | | | 2018–19Details | £12,111m | £15,901m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£15,901m | | | | 2019–20Details | £11,837m | £15,142m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£15,142m | | | | 2020–21Details | £12,106m | £14,717m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,717m | | | | 2021–22Details | £13,116m | £15,907m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£15,907m | | | | 2022–23Details | £12,443m | £14,100m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£14,100m | | | | 2023–24Details | £12,589m | £13,552m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£13,552m | | | | 2024–25Details | £12,616m | £13,051m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£13,051m | | | | 2025–26Details | £12,435m | £12,435m | | Real, 2025-26 prices£12,435m | | | Figures for the 2025–26 financial year. Source: [HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk), [HM Treasury](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp). **How "real terms" is worked out** Real terms use HM Treasury's GDP deflator, rebased to 2025-26 prices. That is the measure the Treasury and the OBR use for public finances; the consumer price index is the right one for a shopping basket, not for the size of the state. ## How does it work? Since August 2023 every alcoholic drink has been taxed on one principle: the litres of pure alcohol it contains. A stronger drink pays more duty per litre of liquid, in a straight line. Before that, beer, cider, wine and spirits were taxed on four different bases that had grown up separately over centuries. Draught relief gives a lower rate to drinks below 8.5% ABV sold on draught in pubs, a deliberate attempt to favour the pub over the supermarket. VAT is then charged on the price including duty, so as with fuel there is tax on the tax. ## How has it changed? How it got here, and why each change was made: - **1643**Excise duty on beer is introduced by Parliament to fund the Civil War, and never removed. - **1751**The Gin Act raises duty sharply to curb the gin craze, one of the earliest uses of a tax explicitly to change drinking behaviour. - **2008**An alcohol duty escalator raises rates 2% above inflation each year. - **2013**The escalator is scrapped for beer after a campaign by pubs and brewers. - **2023**The system is rebuilt around alcohol content, with draught relief for pubs. ## Where does the money go? **Nowhere in particular.** Alcohol duty is not earmarked. It goes into the Consolidated Fund and is spent on whatever the government of the day decides. Because it is not earmarked, the only honest way to show what it pays for is by proportion. If alcohol duties receipts of £12.4bn were spent in the same proportions as all public spending in 2025-26, they would break down like this. It is an illustration of scale, not a statement about where those particular pounds went. **If £12.4bn of alcohol duties were spent like all public money in 2025-26** - 1. Social protection, including the state pension £4.1bn 33.2% of spending - 2. Health £2.6bn 21% of spending - 3. Debt interest £1.3bn 10.6% of spending - 4. Education £1.3bn 10.2% of spending - 5. Economic affairs, including transport £957m 7.7% of spending - 6. Defence £659m 5.3% of spending - 7. Public order and safety £560m 4.5% of spending - 8. General public services £361m 2.9% of spending - 9. Housing and community £224m 1.8% of spending - 10. Environment £199m 1.6% of spending - 11. Culture, media and sport £149m 1.2% of spending Spending shares from HM Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. An illustration of scale, not where these particular pounds went. **Show as a table** | Name | Equivalent share of alcohol duties | | --- | --- | | 1. Social protection, including the state pension | £4.1bn | | 2. Health | £2.6bn | | 3. Debt interest | £1.3bn | | 4. Education | £1.3bn | | 5. Economic affairs, including transport | £957m | | 6. Defence | £659m | | 7. Public order and safety | £560m | | 8. General public services | £361m | | 9. Housing and community | £224m | | 10. Environment | £199m | | 11. Culture, media and sport | £149m | See [for every £100 of tax](/for-every-100-pounds-of-tax/) for the full picture. ## Is it different where I live? ### Scotland Duty is reserved to Westminster, but Scotland introduced minimum unit pricing in 2018, which sets a floor price per unit. That is not a tax: the extra money goes to retailers, not the government. ## Does it change what people do? Alcohol duty is one of the better-evidenced behavioural taxes. Consumption does respond to price, though less than proportionately, and the response is larger among the heaviest drinkers than was once assumed. Real-terms duty has fallen over the last decade, and consumption has fallen too, which shows price is not the only thing driving the trend. [When a tax rise stops raising money](/when-tax-rises-lose-revenue/) looks at the cases where the effect has been large enough to move the revenue. ## How does that compare with other countries? **In 2024 the UK raised 1.6% of GDP this way: seventh of the 12 countries compared here.** **Revenue from this heading as a share of GDP, 2024** - 1. Netherlands 2.2% - 2. Italy 2.1% - 3. France 2.1% - 4. Denmark 2.0% - 5. Spain 1.7% - 6. Sweden 1.7% - ◆7. United Kingdom 1.6% - 8. Germany 1.5% - 9. Japan 1.2% - 10. Canada 1.2% - 11. Ireland 1.1% - 12. United States 0.6% ◆ UK **Show as a table** | Name | Share of GDP | | --- | --- | | 1. Netherlands | 2.2% | | 2. Italy | 2.1% | | 3. France | 2.1% | | 4. Denmark | 2.0% | | 5. Spain | 1.7% | | 6. Sweden | 1.7% | | 7. United Kingdom (UK) | 1.6% | | 8. Germany | 1.5% | | 9. Japan | 1.2% | | 10. Canada | 1.2% | | 11. Ireland | 1.1% | | 12. United States | 0.6% | Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source: [OECD](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_REV_COMP_OECD%40DF_RSOECD). **What is being compared** The OECD heading is all excise duties together: alcohol, tobacco and fuel. Countries are those this site compares throughout, not the whole OECD, and a country appears only where it reports this heading for 2024. ## What are the arguments? ### The case for alcohol duty - Alcohol imposes costs on others through health, policing and lost work. - Taxing by alcohol content targets the harm rather than the drink. - Draught relief supports pubs, which are supervised settings. - It raises substantial revenue from a product people will buy anyway. ### The case against - It takes a larger share of income from poorer drinkers. - Most drinkers impose no cost on anyone, but pay the same rate. - High duty encourages cross-border and illicit supply. - The industry argues it costs jobs in pubs and production. Both columns are set out as their strongest case, not as a preferred answer and a strawman. See [how this site handles contested questions](/neutrality/). ## Common questions How much tax is on a drink? A duty on alcoholic drinks, charged by the amount of pure alcohol in them, with VAT then charged on top of the duty. Producers and importers pay it; it is in the shelf price, so drinkers bear it.How much does alcohol duties raise? £12.4bn in 2025–26, which is 1.3% of everything HMRC collects.Where does alcohol duties go? Nowhere in particular. Alcohol duty is not earmarked. It goes into the Consolidated Fund and is spent on whatever the government of the day decides. ## Use this data The figures belong to the bodies that published them and are used under their terms, listed in [Sources for this page](#sources); most are Crown copyright under the Open Government Licence. Only our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, published under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse them, including commercially, if you credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) and link back to this page. ### Download - [Alcohol duties receipts by financial year (CSV)](/data/receipts-spirits.csv) [JSON](/data/receipts-spirits.json) HM Revenue and Customs: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) - [Total HMRC receipts by financial year (CSV)](/data/receipts-total.csv) [JSON](/data/receipts-total.json) HM Revenue and Customs: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) - [All data, field definitions and licences](/data/) ### Embed the live figure Paste this into your page. It updates itself every night and links back here. Embed code ## Sources for this page | Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk) | HM Revenue and Customs | the 2025–26 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp) | HM Treasury | the 2025–26 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) | | [Revenue Statistics: comparative tables](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_REV_COMP_OECD%40DF_RSOECD) | OECD | 1 January 2024 | annual | [CC BY 4.0 (OECD)](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html) | Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Related pages - [Next in this section: Tobacco duty](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/tobacco-duty/) - [How much tax is in petrol?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/tax-on-petrol/) - [How much are HMRC penalties and interest, and how much do they raise?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/hmrc-penalties-and-interest/) - [Can I download and reuse this data?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/data/) ## More from this publisher - [UK tax calculators](https://howlongisit.co.uk) Published by [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). The figures belong to the publishers listed under Sources and are used under their licences. Figures last updated 29 September 2026.