UK Beer Market Report 2025
"Aligning with alcohol moderation is crucial for beer brands. Seasonal/limited-edition flavours will help prompt impulse purchase and build brand differentiation."
Alice Baker, Food and Drink Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for beer
- Opportunities
- Unlock impulse purchase to drive sales
- Develop lower-calorie beers, and prove that these deliver on flavour
- Align with alcohol moderation to buoy up usage
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THE MARKET
- Snapshot – market size and forecast
- Subdued consumer confidence will hinder category volume sales
- Graph 1: financial wellbeing and confidence indices, 2019-25
- Various factors will drive up beer prices over 2025-30
- Pub and brewery numbers decline
- Growing alcohol moderation presents both a challenge and an opportunity
- Graph 2: alcohol reduction and non-usage, 2022-25
- Market size and forecast for beer
- Graph 3: market size and forecast for total value sales of beer, 2019-30
- Value and volume sales fall over 2019-25; price rises will fuel value sales growth as volume sales stagnate over 2025-30
- On-trade loses volume sales in 2025 as consumer spending remains cautious
- Graph 4: total value sales of beer, by on- and off-trade
- Lager dominates beer sales; volumes decline in 2025
- Graph 5: retail value sales of beer, by segment, 2023-25
- Stella Artois leads the retail lager segment, but loses sales in 2025
- Graph 6: retail value sales of lager, by top five brands and own-label, 2022/23-24/25
- Shifts in the top twenty lager brands in 2025
- Guinness leads in ale/stout/bitter, but feels the heat from increased competition
- Graph 7: retail value sales of ale/stout/bitter, by top five brands and own-label, 2022/23-24/25
- Mixed results for leading ale/stout/bitter brands in 2025
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THE CONSUMER
- Usage of beer
- Two in three adults drink beer, but most do so occasionally
- Graph 8: frequency of drinking beer, 2021-25
- Younger and wealthier people lead on usage
- Purchase channels for beer
- Retail purchase dominates; in-store leads over online buying
- Graph 9: purchase channels for beer, 2025
- One in five adults buy beer from discounters, with no difference by finances
- Under-35s buy from convenience stores more than older groups
- Tapping into impulse buying is key for beer brands
- Impulse buying is widespread in beer; innovate with flavours to prompt purchase
- In-store activations help prompt impulse buying
- Focus on aesthetically pleasing serves to tap into social media’s influence
- Develop and showcase limited-edition flavours to improve stand-out
- Develop and showcase lower-calorie beers
- Calories are a put-off for beer; lower-calorie options struggle on taste perceptions
- Take action on calories
- Use sampling and encourage recommendations to drive purchase of lower calorie beers
- Offer more information on pack about beers’ calories
- Ensure that low-/no-alcohol versions have good health credentials
- Aligning with the alcohol moderation trend is crucial for brands
- Emphasise low-/no-alcohol beers’ refreshing qualities to drive buying
- Drive take-up of low-/no-alcohol variants to support sales
- Use sampling and tap into gifting to drive purchase of low-/no-alcohol beers
- Look beyond low-/no-alcohol to align with the alcohol moderation trend
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PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
- Low-/no-alcohol gains share of launches in 2025
- Fruit and sweet treats remain key flavour trends in beer NPD in 2025
- Further activity in hazy and dark beers; a few companies explore non-sweet flavours
- Limited-edition beer launches continue
- Companies continue to launch beers made with upcycled ingredients
- Advertising spend on beer falls in 2025
- Beer brands continue to focus on aspirational lifestyles
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APPENDIX
- Market definition
- The market
- Forecast methodology
- Forecast methodology – fan chart
- Market forecast – volume sales
- Graph 10: market size and forecast for total volume sales of beer, 2019-30
- Market size and forecast of beer – value
- Market size and forecast of beer – volume
- Market forecast and prediction intervals (value)
- Market forecast and prediction intervals (volume)
- Channels to market
- Retail market segmentation
- Lager retail market share – value sales – brands
- Lager retail market share – volume sales – brands
- Ale/stout/bitter retail market share – value sales – brands
- Ale/stout/bitter retail market share – volume sales – brands
- Low/no-alcohol beer retail market share – value sales – brands
- Low/no-alcohol beer retail market share – volume sales – brands
- Population growth by age group
- Graph 11: trends in the age structure of the population, 2020-25 and 2025-30
- Market factors – beer retail price inflation
- Graph 12: RPI inflation for beer and all items, 2021-25
- Advertising spend on beer
- Graph 13: above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising on beer^, 2021-25
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Other data source methodologies
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Abbreviations
UK Beer Market – Trends and Insights
- Getting their premium variants into the discounters’ mid-aisle promotions offers a key route for brands to drive visibility among a lucrative audience. One in five category buyers buy beer from discount supermarkets, a presence here offers a means to reach people in the position to buy pricier products outside of these short promotional periods.
- Ongoing pressure on household incomes, weak consumer confidence and growing alcohol moderation have dampened volume sales of beer in 2025. Price rises, pressures on the on-trade and the effects of EPR, have driven up value sales despite the weak volumes.
- Alcohol moderation is set to grow further in 2025-30, making further development of low-/no-alcohol versions crucial for beer brands to maintain sales. Emphasising low-/no-alcohol beers’ refreshing qualities will help boost take-up of these variants given the importance of this in drinks choices.
- Aligning with the alcohol moderation trend in other ways, such as by promoting smaller and mixed serves, is also vital, given that many consumers favour brands which endorse moderate drinking.
Key Issues Covered in the Report
- The impact of the income squeeze on value and volume sales of beer in the on- and off-trade
- Frequency of drinking beer and usage of different types/varieties of beer, including craft and low-/no-alcohol
- Demographic patterns in beer usage
- Key factors prompting purchase of a beer not bought before, including in-store displays, social media and the influence of friends/family.
- Consumer attitudes towards calories in beer, and views of lower-calorie variants
- Consumer perceptions of low-/no-alcohol beer, including refreshment and calories
- Trends in launch activity, and opportunities for further innovation
| Report Attributes | Details |
|---|---|
| Published Date | November 2025 |
| Report Author | Alice Baker, Food and Drink Analyst |
| Market Size Data | 2019-2025(est) |
| Market Size Forecast | 2026-2030 |
| Measurement Metrics | Value sales in £, Volume sales in litres |
| Consumer Data | 1,978 internet users aged 18+, August 2025 |
| Market Segmentation | Lager, Ale, Stout, Low-/no-alcohol |
| Leading brands in the UK beer market | Stella Artois, Budweiser, Corona, Carling, Foster’s, Guinness, BrewDog, John Smith’s, Beavertown Brewery |
Report Scope
This Report looks at the UK market for beer sold in both the on-trade, ie out-of-home outlets such as pubs, restaurants and clubs where the drink is consumed on the premises, and the off-trade market, eg supermarkets, online, off-licences and convenience stores.
The UK beer market is divided into three main segments, lager, ale and stout. Spirit- and fruit-flavoured beers are also included within lager in this Report. Barley wine, alcoholic ginger beer and bitter are also included within ales in this Report. Porter – a dark style of beer made from brown malt – is included within the definition of stout.
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