UK consumers currently pay about 40% of the entire level of alcohol duty across the whole European Union.
This is a striking claim. I had heard that the British pay 40 per cent of all the beer tax in the EU, but I didn't realise that the same was true of all other alcoholic drinks.
Nevertheless, a check of the numbers in this EU document shows that it is true. The figures break down like this:
Spirits
EU total: €14.5 billion
UK total: €3.7 billion
UK percentage: 25%
Wine
EU total: €6 billion
UK total: €4 billion
UK percentage: 67%
Beer
EU total: €10
UK total: €4 billion
UK percentage: 40%
Sparkling wine
EU total: €1 billion
UK total: €460 million
UK percentage: 43%
Intermediate ('alcopops')
EU total: €700 million
UK total: €406 million
UK percentage: 58%
All alcohol
EU total: €31.2 billion
UK total: €12.5 billion
UK percentage: 40%
This is a rip off of British drinkers on an epic scale. The UK—which drinks less than the EU average—has 12 per cent of the EU population but pays 40 per cent of alcohol taxes. Pound for pound, we are paying more than three times as much alcohol duty than the EU average.
The exploitation of wine drinkers is particularly ruthless (most EU countries don't levy alcohol duty on wine at all), but every type of drink is subject to exceptionally high rates of tax. No wonder the European Commission thinks the British government can afford to give it another £1.7 billion.
