Households in the UK spent less money on alcohol for Christmas tipples this year as the cost of living continues to exert pressure Britons finances.
Shoppers spent £19.bn picking up supermarket beer, wine and spirits in the weeks leading up to 28 December, down 4.1 per cent from the same time last year, according to consumer data provider Worldpanel.
It is the most significant drop in festive alcohol purchases since Christmas 2021, when a return from unprecedented Covid restrictions saw revellers flocking to pubs, therefore buying less alcohol to consume at home.
Worldpanel said younger families featured disproportionately in its data over falling alcohol sales, suggesting the cost of living may be behind people’s decision to give the booze a miss.
The majority of British households did not go sober over the festive period, with three quarters of shoppers buying alcohol for the festivities, according to Worldpanel. However, the data shows this was down 3.3 per cent on the same period last year.
The data from Worldpanel shows that while most alcohol categories saw shoppers spend slightly less versus last year overall, some managed to buck the trend.
Shoppers spent £9m more this year on sparkling wine, with champagne a particular driver.
The no and low alcohol categories also saw a 14 per cent rise in spending, bought by 2.7 million households. Despite this, the proportion of households choosing no and low-alcohol drinks edged down slightly, from 9.6 per cent to 9.5 per cent.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: “Over the last five years, the number of households cutting alcohol out of their shopping basket altogether has steadily increased. Alongside this, we’ve seen a rapid rise in sales of low and no-alcohol alternatives.
“However, the slight dip in the numbers of buyers in December may signal that the category is beginning to mature, while the rise in sales shows that converted households are doubling down on their favourite low and no- alcohol tipples.”
He added it was a Christmas of ‘smart savings and considered choices”, as “price remained front of mind” for most families.
Richard Lee, Business Unit Director Drinks UK, at Worldpanel, said: "The data shows that slightly fewer people are buying alcohol and those that do are buying slightly less overall. Shoppers are being more considered about when, how much and what they drink, which is reflected in the continued growth of no- and low-alcohol options.
“What’s clear is that consumers are also embracing more variety, and in this we are seeing a blurring of categories where soft drinks and alcohol increasingly sit side by side, giving shoppers the flexibility to switch between the two depending on the occasion."
However, falling food inflation meant that a full Christmas dinner was actually a little cheaper in 2025 than in 2024.
The average cost of a dinner for four was £32.46, down a few pence from £32.57 in 2024 (which was down 6.5 per cent on the year before), figures from Worldpanel show.
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