Scottish alcohol prices could soar 90% with new minimum unit price

The Scottish government is set to implement a minimum 50p unit price for alcohol on 1 May 2018, which will have the greatest effect on beer and cider.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, some cider products could rise by as much as 90%.

The Scottish government’s health secretary, Shona Robinson told Holyrood that the minimum 50p per unit price (a unit is 10ml of pure alcohol) would be beneficial for the general public and it would reduce the number of alcohol related deaths in Scotland.

This minimum would affect heavy drinkers because they tend to buy cheaper and stronger alcohol, the IFS study showed.

Martin O’Connell the associate director at the IFS said: “However, the impact of the policy will depend crucially on the price sensitivity of different types of drinkers, and how much less alcohol they consume in response to a rise in price.”

“Minimum unit pricing is not the only policy that a government has at its disposal. We also show that heavier drinkers tend to buy stronger alcohol, suggesting that redesign of the current system of alcohol excise duties could also help target problem drinkers,” he added.

This regulation would raise awareness in drinkers about the costs associated with alcohol consumption like drink-driving, anti-social behaviour. It should reduce the consumption of socially costly (heavy) drinkers.

According to the IFS the current alcohol duty system is “chaotic”. Due to EU requirements, wine and cider are taxed by litre, which means they are taxed less per unit than other alcoholic products.

This low tax rate on cider is why cider products will suffer such an impact in the adoption of the minimum unit price.