Gin sales hit another record high

GIN sales hit a record high at Christmas after consumers bought the equivalent of a bottle for every adult in the UK last year, according to latest figures.

Britons bought 51 million bottles of the spirit last year, and sales were up by £104million this Christmas compared with the previous year, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said.

The figure is 27 per cent higher in volume, the equivalent of more than nine and a half million more bottles, than 2016.

Over 16 million bottles of gin, worth £413million, were sold in the 12 weeks to the end of December – an extra three and a half million bottles bought or 28 per cent in volume on the 2016 festive period.

Britain’s love for the tipple made gin a popular gift this Christmas, along with a wide range of gin- gifts such as gin baubles, gin advent calendars and gin glassware.

Last year was also a recordbreaking year for British gin exports, which broke the £500million barrier to hit £530m in value sales.

There are now 315 distilleries in the UK, more than double the number that were operating five years ago.