Brexit has pushed up the price of wine to an all-time high, with the average bottle sold in the UK surpassing the £5.50 mark for the first time.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s latest market report reveals that the average price of a bottle of wine sold in the off trade is now £5.56.
The impact of Brexit, which saw the value of the pound plummet and push up the cost of imports leading to rising inflation, led to a 3% increase on wine prices in the 12 weeks to the beginning of 2017. This compares to a 1% increase over the previous two years.
These figures do not take into account the impact of the 3.9% rise on alcohol duty announced by chancellor Philip Hammond in the March Budget - adding another 8p to the average priced bottle of wine.
The WSTA said that wine prices were forecast to continue to rise as the triple whammy effect of Brexit, inflation and duty increases take their toll.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: “Last year the WSTA predicted that Brexit and the fall in the value of the pound, compounded by rising inflation, would force the UK wine industry to up their prices. Sadly this is now a reality as an average priced bottle of wine in the UK is at an all-time high.
“Unfortunately, for both British businesses and consumers, we are clear that this is not a one off adjustment, but rather that wine prices will continue to rise. We all know that Brexit will be complicated, but something has got to give and government must start showing its support for the UK wine industry.”
More than half (56%) of the money Brits pay for a bottle of wine, the equivalent to £2.16, goes on wine duty, according to the WSTA.
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