Alcohol sales soaring in England during lockdown

Half way through Dry January and 10 days into England’s third lockdown, alcohol sales are soaring, with weekly wine sales at Waitrose up by a third.

According to The Sun, weekly wine sales at Waitrose are a third up on last year while beer sales have risen by 49%.

Spirits in particular seem to be the lockdown drink of choice, with Waitrose reporting a 64% increase in rum sales and a 56% jump in Tequila sales. At other supermarkets, sales of cream liqueurs such as Baileys have doubled.

As we reported last week, by 6 January 2.7m Brits had already given up on Dry January. Internet booze sales have also skyrocketed, partly due to people’s efforts to stay home, but also a general trend towards more people drinking than usual.

As reported by The Sun, online off-licence The Drop Store has seen its sales increase eight-fold in the first 12 days of the year.

According to a recent YouGuv pol, a third of those attempting Dry January had already had a drink by the end of week one.