Sales of low alcohol beer in Britain soaring faster than any other country

The market for low or no alcohol beer in Britain doubled last year, driven by health concerns and young people shunning booze altogether

Brits are ditching booze faster than any other country, figures suggest.

Far from being lager louts, research shows sales of low alcohol beer here are booming. In fact, the UK market for products with less than 3.5% alcohol doubled last year, according to data provider IWSR. That made the UK the fastest growing market out of 160 countries included.

It meant the equivalent of nearly 229 million pints of low or alcohol-free brews were bought.

The soaring demand for weaker beers has been fuelled by concerns over excess drinking and drink drive laws. Habits are also changing, with 39% of young people surveyed by YouGov saying they drank no alcohol at all.

Brewers have tapped into the trend by investing heavily in low strength beers, with Guinness reporting it can’t make its 0.0 version fast enough. The UK is now the eighth largest global market for such beers, up from 13th in 2022, IWSR told the Financial Times.

Post-Brexit rules introduced last August, in which products with under 3.5% ABV are taxed at a lower rate than stronger drinks, are also said to have helped drive demand. Patrick Fisher, senior market analyst at IWSR, said: “Growth rates for the category are expected to normalise in the years ahead.”

The British Beer and Pub Association said, as of January this year, 87% of pubs served at least one no or low alcohol beer. Most come from bottles and cans but the number serving draught options has quadrupled since 2019.

Luke Boase, founder of alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint, said: “We’re seeing the rise of ‘zebra striping’ - the practice of people alternating between alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks within a single visit to the pub.”