Minimum unit pricing reducing alcohol bought
BMJ research found a 7.6% cut in the amount purchased from stores in the eight months after May 2018, when the legislation was first brought in.
Alcohol sales in Scotland's shops fell by almost 8% after the country became the first in the world to introduce minimum unit pricing, a new study has showed.
BMJ research found a 7.6% cut in the amount purchased from stores in the eight months after May 2018, when the legislation was first brought in.
The laws set a lower limit of 50p per unit, below which alcohol cannot be sold - working out as an average price rise of 5.1p per unit, the study says.
Reductions were most notable for beer, spirits, and cider, including the own-brand spirits and high strength ciders that the policy sought to target.
Their findings are based on shopping data for 2015-18 from 5,325 Scottish households, compared with 54,807 English households as controls and 10,040 in northern England to control for potential cross border effects.
The introduction of the legislation was found to be followed by a reduction of 1.2 UK units in weekly shop purchases of alcohol per adult per household.
The price increases were greatest for those that bought the largest amount of alcohol, just under £3 per adult per week, and among the lower-income groups.
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