Price floor: alcohol in Scotland
● Minimum unit pricing.
● First introduced in May 2018, when it was £0.50 per unit.
● In May 2024, it rose 30%.
● The new unit rate is 65p.
● More than 20 people a week in Scotland die due to alcohol misuse. Imposes pressure on
health and justice systems.
Impact:
● Initially, there was a 5% rise in the average price per unit of alcohol.
● An 11% reduction in the quantity purchased.
● Increases the price of whisky bottles from £13.13 to £17.06 → shows the impact the measures
have on strong alcoholic drinks.
Evaluation for stakeholders:
Consumers:
● Improved health from lower overconsumption.
● Inelastic demand.
Producers:
● The higher prices are retained by them, so they benefit to some extent. However, they sell
less.
● Retail sales fell by 3%.
● Sales of stronger drinks, which were more impacted by the MUP, went down the most.
Society:
● Lower alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations.
● Since the policy was introduced, Public Health Scotland said minimum pricing has been
associated with a 13.5% fall in deaths wholly attributable to alcohol.
● The number of people using alcohol treatment services has fallen by 40%.
Workers:
● Wine and Spirit association calls for the policy to be scrapped entirely as it argues it is unfair
and unjustifiable during a cost of living crisis.
● Minimum unit pricing.
● First introduced in May 2018, when it was £0.50 per unit.
● In May 2024, it rose 30%.
● The new unit rate is 65p.
● More than 20 people a week in Scotland die due to alcohol misuse. Imposes pressure on
health and justice systems.
Impact:
● Initially, there was a 5% rise in the average price per unit of alcohol.
● An 11% reduction in the quantity purchased.
● Increases the price of whisky bottles from £13.13 to £17.06 → shows the impact the measures
have on strong alcoholic drinks.
Evaluation for stakeholders:
Consumers:
● Improved health from lower overconsumption.
● Inelastic demand.
Producers:
● The higher prices are retained by them, so they benefit to some extent. However, they sell
less.
● Retail sales fell by 3%.
● Sales of stronger drinks, which were more impacted by the MUP, went down the most.
Society:
● Lower alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations.
● Since the policy was introduced, Public Health Scotland said minimum pricing has been
associated with a 13.5% fall in deaths wholly attributable to alcohol.
● The number of people using alcohol treatment services has fallen by 40%.
Workers:
● Wine and Spirit association calls for the policy to be scrapped entirely as it argues it is unfair
and unjustifiable during a cost of living crisis.
