Minimum Pricing

Alcohol is still much more affordable than it was in the 1980s, mostly due to cheap prices in supermarkets and other off-sales where we now buy most of our alcohol. 

This increased affordability has resulted in people drinking more, and in turn, more alcohol-related health and social problems. For example, there are three times as many people dying from alcohol now than in the 1980s. See here for more information on the health and social harm caused by alcohol in Scotland.

There is extensive evidence showing that when price goes up, consumption goes down (and vice versa). Minimum pricing is an effective policy because it targets those who experience the most harm, whilst having very little effect on moderate drinkers.

While the results from the evaluation have been very positive, the dual effects of increased inflation and changes in our drinking habits during and since the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly eroded the impact that MUP has had. 50p in May 2018 is equivalent to around 62p in 2024. 

In 2021, Alcohol Focus Scotland, SHAAP, and 28 other organisations, including health and children’s charities and medical Royal colleges, wrote to Ministers to urge them to increase the minimum unit price from 50p per unit to 65p per unit. This is because the policy has been affected by inflation and increasing the price could save more lives.

Research from the University of Sheffield published in September 2023 showed that changes in our drinking habits from the pandemic will have long term effects on our health, substantially increasing the number of people who will die and be hospitalised due to alcohol. The researchers concluded that to continue being effective, the minimum unit price must be increased and linked to inflation. 

Increasing the minimum unit price will give Scotland the best chance to turn the tide of alcohol harm, reduce the death toll and alleviate pressure on our health service and health professionals. Compared to keeping MUP at 50p, an increase to 65p would save around 800 lives in the first five years. 

In March 2024, more than 80 organisations from across Scotland and beyond came together to call on MSPs to increase MUP to 65p in a joint letter to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee.

The increase to 65p was approved with broad cross party support in April 2024 and came into effect on 30 September 2024.

Consultation and evidence sessions

Following a consultation in late 2023, the Scottish Government announced it would bring forward two pieces of secondary legislation, one to continue the policy and one to increase the price to 65p per unit.

Read our response to the consultation

Check out a short video on why MUP was increased

On 8 February 2024, Deputy First Minister Shona Robinson announced the Scottish Government’s intention to continue and increase minimum unit pricing to 65p per unit.

On 19 February 2024, the Scottish Government laid orders in Parliament to:

• continue minimum unit pricing beyond the end of April 2024
• increase the price to 65p per unit from 30 September 2024

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee took evidence on MUP and recommended Parliament vote in favour of both pieces of legislation on 27 March 2024.

Read our written evidence

Watch the evidence session

On 17 April 2024, the Scottish Parliament voted to continue and increase the minimum unit price for alcohol to 65p per unit, concluding a lengthy process which included a robust and independent evaluation by Public Health Scotland, further public consultation and intense parliamentary scrutiny.

What next?

On 30 September 2024, MUP was increased to 65p per unit. This will ensure that the impact of MUP is not blunted by inflation.

The Scottish Parliament should also introduce separate primary legislation for an automatic mechanism to link the MUP to a measure of affordability into the future, as proposed by the NCD Alliance Scotland.

Deaths are higher now than before MUP was introduced because of the pandemic.

•  People who were already drinking at higher levels (above the low risk drinking guidelines of 14 units per week) increased their consumption during the pandemic.
• This was a major factor in the 25% increase in alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland from 2019 to 2023, reaching the highest level in 15 years.

MUP has worked because deaths would have been higher still without it.

• Public Health Scotland looked at alcohol deaths data up until the end of 2020, using England as a comparison (where there was no MUP).
• This study showed that the alcohol death rates in Scotland since MUP implementation were 13.4% lower compared to what would have happened without MUP.

The positive impact of MUP on deaths can be seen in the decrease in deaths before the pandemic, and the lower increase in deaths after the pandemic compared to England.

• Before the pandemic, there was a 10% reduction in alcohol-specific deaths (in the first full year after MUP was implemented).
• There were lower increases in alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland than in England during the pandemic (22% increase in Scotland compared to 30% increase in England between 2019 and 2022).
• The graph below shows how the difference in alcohol-specific deaths between Scotland and England has reduced since the introduction of MUP, including during the pandemic.’ 

Source: Office for National Statistics (2023). Alcohol Specific Deaths in the UK