A new minimum pricing law that came into effect in January has been branded a failure as a new report shows that instead of decreasing, alcohol off licence sales figures have actually increased by a whopping 11%.
According to The Irish Times, new figures from NielsenIQ, which collects data from supermarkets, off-licences and discount stores, volume litre of alcohol sales from the start of the year until April 24th is 11 per cent higher compared with the same period in 2019.
The new law was introduced to stop the sale of strong alcohol in supermarkets and of licences but seems to be having little or no effect. In 2019 some 54.4 million litres of alcohol were sold in the off-trade in the first 16 weeks of the year, compared with 60.4 million litres this year.
However, Representatives from the industry also cautioned it was too early to tell definitively what impact the new pricing was having on sales. Meanwhile, sources said there had been a rise in sales in Border shops in Northern Ireland, and a corresponding decrease in shops south of the Border.
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