Alcohol sales fall in Scotland's supermarkets following the introduction of minimum unit pricing
Alcohol sales in Scotland's supermarkets and off-licences have fallen following the introduction of a minimum pricing policy.
In the 12 months after the implementation of minimum unit pricing (MUP) the volume of pure alcohol sold in shops fell by 3.6 per cent, from 7.4 to 7.1 litres per adult.
This is equivalent to a reduction of 26 units each annually, around 12 pints of average strength beer.
During the same period in England and Wales - where MUP is not in place - the amount of alcohol sold increased 3.2 per cent, from 6.3 to 6.5 litres per adult. However, the amount of alcohol bought still remains lower than Scotland.
Introduced in May 2018, MUP resulted in every alcoholic drink having a minimum price based on the level of pure alcohol it contains, which is currently set at 50 pence per unit.
According to research carried out by NHS Health Scotland, sales of cider fell most sharply over the 12 month period by 18.6 per cent per adult due to an average price rise, while spirits sales dropped by 3.8 per cent, wine fell by 3 per cent and beer decreased by 1.1 per cent.
Despite the reduction, the sales still equate to every adult in Scotland drinking around 27 bottles of vodka a year.
Fortified wine - which had no price change from 60p per unit - was the only drink category to show an increase, up 16.4 per cent.
There was also an uptake in alcohol sales per adult for the 2018 World Cup and summer heatwave largely driven by beer and cider.
The introduction of MUP has forced the Scottish Government to monitor illegal cross-border sales, such as bulk purchasing from England to sell for less in Scotland.
Recent studies indicated that some cross-border purchasing does take place, although much of it pre-dated MUP.
The Scottish Government said they are continuing to explore different ways of measuring whether cross-border purchases of alcohol have increased.
Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said the figures show that Scotland is “clearly moving in the right direction” compared to England and Wales.
"This is a promising first full year of data, following our world-leading action to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP).
"We have seen a change in the average price of alcohol, with the average price per unit rising by approximately 5p in Scotland compared to England and Wales.
"While the impact of reduced consumption will take a little longer to show, I remain convinced MUP is one of the main drivers in reducing alcohol harm."
He urged the UK Government to bring in a 9pm watershed for alcohol adverts, or devolve the necessary power to Scotland, saying this would enable further protection from alcohol.
The latest research comes after a report published last week found that MUP failed to cut underage drinking in Scotland.
The NHS Scotland study concluded that "price is only one factor" influencing children's alcohol consumption, with others including the influence of friends and parents.
The findings were a setback for the SNP government, which introduced the controversial policy in the hope of targeting problem drinkers consuming strong alcohol at low prices.
