Cheap booze prices to rise as MSPs vote to increase minimum cost

MSPs have voted to increase the minimum price at which alcohol can be sold by 30%.

Scotland was the first country in the world to set a minimum price for alcohol - a move that came into force in May 2018.

For the past six years, the price per unit of alcohol has been 50p but MSPs have voted to put it up to 65p from the end of September – a move designed to reflect rises in inflation.

The change will see the minimum price for a bottle of vodka rise from £13.13 to £17.06 and a standard can of lager will go up from at least £1 to £1.30.

It was approved by the Scottish parliament after being backed by 88 votes to 28.

A sunset clause in the minimum unit pricing (MUP) legislation introduced in 2018 meant the current regulations would expire at the end of April.

However, the vote backed by MSPs will ensure its continuation.

Academics have been evaluating the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for some time, and last year Public Health Scotland (PHS) collated 40 studies to examine the policy’s effect on health, business and public attitudes.

Best estimates suggest that MUP has saved an average of just over 150 lives a year since its introduction and avoided more than 400 hospital admissions per year.

In 2022, the last year for which figures are available, there were 1,276 alcohol-related deaths in Scotland, the highest level since 2008.

However, PHS said the picture would have been even worse without MUP.

But the report also acknowledged there was “limited evidence to suggest that MUP was effective in reducing consumption for those people with alcohol dependence”.