You're standing at a bar, the waft of cigarette smoke in the air. An Oyster card and a ten pound note poke out the back of your super skinny black jeans. It's 2005, and you’ve just moved to London. "Pint please." You hand over the crumpled tenner, and £7.50 change is shoved back in your pocket.
For young people in London today, this seems like a fantastical situation. While the current average cost of a pint of draught lager in the UK is £4.09 (almost double the £2.10 average from 10 years ago), it's not unusual to fork out way over £6 for a pint of nothing-particularly-special in London.
And, according to research from digital pension provider Penfold, that average price of a London pint is set to climb to a staggering £13.98 by 2025.
So why are your future nights out predicted to break the bank?
Brewers are not immune from the increased cost of living. Taking into account greater energy, transportation and staffing costs as well as increased price of grain passed on from farmers who are also feeling the squeeze, and combine that with overall inflation (which we are constantly reminded is currently at a 40 year high), and it becomes crystal clear why costs are soaring.
But although the £14 pint in London sounds eye-wateringly steep, Penfold's research also suggests the average pint in the UK in 2025 will 'only' cost £4.42. Which sounds somewhat out of whack. We'll revisit this article in three years' time and see just how right/wrong the prediction was.
Thinking of switching your boozy night out to a gig or a meal out? In the next five years, a meal could set you back 55% more than it does today, says Penfold, while the average price of a concert ticket (which has already seen a 98% increase in price, compared to 2017), could rise another 60% — to an average of £142.42.
Someone fetch the home brewing kit. We need a drink.
