How drinkers boost the economy by £ 6.5bn a year

DRINKERS are subsidising public spending by a huge £ 6.5billion a year, a report has revealed.

Research found that alcohol duties raised £ 10.4billion annually for Treasury coffers.

Yet the direct cost of alcohol use, including the impact on the NHS, police, criminal justice system and welfare budget, only amounted to £ 3.9billion, according to the investigation.

The fi gures were estimated in a report from the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free- market think tank based in Westminster.

It said that the most recent health, crime and drinking data

Daily Express Thursday September 3 2015 suggested that, contrary to popular belief, drinkers were not a fi nancial burden on the state.

Alcohol- related crime cost the Treasury about £ 1.6billion a year, including the cost to the police and criminal justice system.

Health problems caused by drink were estimated at costing £ 1.9billion a year. Hospital admissions accounted for £ 984million of that cost while a further £ 530million was spent on accident and emergency attendances.

Welfare payments given to those unable to work because of mental

11 or physical ill health due to alcohol consumption cost an estimated £ 289million a year.

The report said a fi gure of an annual cost to the economy of £ 20million from alcohol use, often cited by public health campaigners, was misleading. It confused the social and economic costs paid by consumers and businesses with costs to Government departments and, therefore, the taxpayer.

Report author Christopher Snowdon said: “It is time to stop pretending that drinkers are a burden on taxpayers.

“The economic evidence is very clear on this.”