UK wine prices will increase because of Brexit, says study

Stock up on bubbly while you still can

The company said it had increased its margins and remains on track to hit its goal of £500m in annual sales by next year (Getty/iStock)

Wine prices in the UK are set to rise as a result of a Brexit, a study has claimed.

According to a paper published in the Journal of Wine Economics, the amount that consumers would pay for a bottle of wine in a shop could go up by as much as 25 per cent by 2025 in the event of a hard Brexit.

The increase in wine prices will consequently have an effect on the amount of wine consumed by Britons.

“The volume of UK wine consumption is 28 per cent lower: 16 per cent because of slower UK economic growth, 7 per cent because of real depreciation of the British pound, and 5 per cent because of new tariffs,” the paper states.

“Superpremium still-wine sales are the most affected, dropping by two fifths, while sparkling and commercial-premium wines drop a bit less than one quarter.”

While some may opt for drinking homegrown British wine instead of imported wine due to the price increase, the solution may not be that simple.

The consumption of domestic British wine is also set to decrease should a “large” Brexit take place.

This is due to the fact that there will be “shrunken demand for all wines resulting from lowered UK incomes and raised local prices because of devaluation of the British pound”.

However, this isn’t the first time Brexit has had an effect on wine prices in the UK.

Data provided by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association in their market report from the second quarter of the last financial year revealed that the price of wine had increased by 3 per cent in the 12 weeks leading up to the start of 2017.

There was only a 1 per cent price increase between 2015 and 2017, according to the association.

People all over the country will no doubt be stocking up on their bubbly before prices rocket even further.