Overall beer sales in the second quarter of 2019 were down 2.2% on the same period in 2018, according to the latest Beer Barometer sales data from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).
Although sales in the off-trade were down 1.7% year-on-year, it was pubs and bars that took the biggest hit, with on-trade beer sales falling by 2.8%.
The decline came against a particularly strong Q2 2018, where sales were boosted by a long period of good weather and the group stages of the World Cup.
The BBPA called for the Chancellor to cut, if not freeze, beer duty in the forthcoming autumn Budget.
Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, commented: “There is a very real threat that the Chancellor will increase beer duty at the next Budget. After two back-to-back beer duty freezes in 2017 and 2018, an increase would be a big step back.”
