THE proportion of alcoholic drinks costing between 50p and 64.9p per unit more than doubled after minimum unit pricing (MUP) was imposed in Scotland, a study has found.
Analysis by Public Health Scotland found almost two-thirds (65.3%) of alcohol sold from shops was in the lowest-possible price bracket above the 50p minimum in the year after Scotland’s MUP policy was introduced.
It had risen from 31.9% in the 12 months before minimum pricing came into effect in May 2018, and almost twice the 33.6% recorded in England and Wales during the first year of the policy north of the border.
Dr Karl Ferguson, public health intelligence adviser at Public Health Scotland, said: “The price distribution in the year following the introduction of minimum unit pricing reflected the 50p per unit price floor, and this was markedly different to the price distribution seen both in Scotland pre-MUP, and in England and Wales.”
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