Beer costs average Londoner £82,000 in a lifetime, survey finds
People living in capital likely to spend £23 each time they go out
![Glasgow was revealed as the cheapest place for a pint, where locals pay just £3.01](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2019/10/28/10/smartypint.jpg)
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Louise Thomas
Editor
The average drinker will spend more than £38,000 on pints of beer over a lifetime – but Londoners pay more than double.
A survey of 2,000 Brits who consume alcohol found 57 per cent believed drinks are overpriced, with the average pint setting you back at least £3.61.
But those in the capital forked out more than a pound extra at £4.49, resulting in around £82,000 over their adult lifetime.
In comparison, the cheapest areas in the UK to buy a pint were revealed as Glasgow, where locals pay just £3.01, and Leicester, where a pint is £3.06.
The survey by SIM-only mobile network SMARTY, also found the average participant was prepared to pay a maximum of £4.12 for a pint, but those in London who were used to spending were more than happy to pay up to £5.07.
It also suggested the average visit to a pub set Brits back £17.53 on each occasion, with the average adult going out for beverages around four times a month.
In comparison, Londoners spent £23.04 each time and went out twice a week.
More than six in 10 adults opted for pints when drinking out and had approximately three a week.
Half of the respondents also thought the price of a drink had gone up in the past five years and a sixth believed this was increasing quicker than the cost of petrol.
But while 61 per cent felt they paid too much for pints when they went out, this went up to around 80 per cent for those in London.
A quarter said they would like to only pay for the amount they drink if they did not finish their beverage and one in 10 admitted they do not always finish the whole pint.
A fifth of those polled also admitted to being worried the price of alcohol would be affected by Brexit.
Almost two thirds also said pints should cost the same no matter where you are in the country, although those in London would be prepared to travel 10-and-a-half miles for a cheaper drink.
A SMARTY spokesperson said: “Off the back of the findings, we’re offering the SMARTY Pint."
They said: “If you’re based in London where typically you’re paying nearly double the cost compared to the area with the cheapest pints in the UK, you can head down to Box Park in Shoreditch on 21 November from 5-7pm to get yourself 1.6 times the beer, on us."
SWNS
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