The beer industry is calling for less of a tax burden.

Overall beer sales in the UK slumped by 8.3% in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the latest statistics from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

Publishers of the UK Quarterly Beer Barometer, the comprehensive guide to beer trends in Britain, BBPA found the drop to be the highest fourth quarter fall since records began in 1997.

It showed that 2.2 million fewer pints were drunk every day in the final quarter of 2008, than in the same quarter of 2007. Compared with the fourth quarter ten years ago, 404 million fewer pints were sold across the country in the final quarter of 2008 – a decline of 4.4 million pints a day.

Beer sales in pubs, bars and restaurants were down 9.9% on the same quarter in 2007 – equating to 1.4 million fewer pints every day.

Sales were also down in supermarkets and off licenses – falling by 6.5% – the second consecutive quarterly fall in the ‘off-trade’.

In total, beer sales for the whole of 2008 fell by 5.5%, compared with 2007. On-trade sales were down by 9.3% and off-trade sales fell by 0.2%.

The BBPA also stressed that: “The declines have hit the Government’s revenues at the worst possible time for the public purse – it is estimated that tax income from duty and VAT are down £181 million since the March Budget, compared with the same period in 2007. This despite the fact that beer taxes rocketed by an eye-watering 18% last year.”

Rob Hayward, Chief Executive of the BBPA, said: “British pub-goers have been hit hard by the Budget and the Pre-Budget Report. In addition to further tax increases, the Government says it wants pubs to pay an extra £300 million this year alone as the cost of introducing a mandatory code of practice. The industry’s Axe the Beer Tax – Save the Pub campaign has seen a surge of public support for our beleaguered sector. It’s time for the Government to respond to these calls and support a great British industry.”

The BBPA is the UK’s leading organisation representing the brewing and pub sector. Its members account for 98% of the beer brewed in the UK and own nearly two thirds of Britain’s 56,000 pubs.

Further information on the “Axe the Beer Tax – Save the Pub” campaign can be found at: www.axethebeertax.com