The penny-off-a-pint duty cut at the last Budget will contribute 200m pints a year to the UK beer market by 2014-15, according to Government estimates.
Economic secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid has told Parliament that the reduction was expected to increase beer consumption by 850,000 hectolitres, or 150m pints, in the current tax year, rising to more than a million hectolitres, or 200m pints, the following year before the effect levels out in 2015-16.
A spokesman for the British Beer & Pub Association commented that the figure was an estimate of the impact of the duty cut alone, and does not necessarily mean sales will rise overall.
