Dry January? Alcohol sales in one British city up by 160 per cent

New data from Dojo, who specialise in providing secure payments for small businesses, revealed that January 2021 saw an increase in demand for alcohol from independent alcohol businesses, along with an increase in the price tag compared to 2020.

They collated the top-30 increases across Britain - with not a single Welsh city making the top-30.

It was found that Ipswich had a increase in alcohol spends of 166 per cent in January 2021, compared to January 2020.

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The data showed that in January 2020, consumers were purchasing an average of £19 worth of alcohol per visit to shops, compared to January 2021 where this spiked to £51.

Even though many may have committed to dry January, the data shows that consumers are spending more on the alcohol they are purchasing.

Ipswich alcohol businesses had the biggest increase in sales at 166 per cent. Oxford saw an increase of 83 per cent and Southampton saw a 48 per cent increase.

However, places such as Reading saw a 59 per cent decrease in alcohol sales, along with Gloucester - down by 58 per cent.

Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insights at Dojo, said: “Typically a time for detox, lockdown fatigue has made us rethink dry January, with more of us finding ways to entertain ourselves with a drink or two on a Zoom call with friends. "It’s perhaps unsurprising that there is an increase in sales of alcohol, however, because we may be drinking more frequently, we’re seeing a higher average sale cost per transaction. "This means we could be swapping the weekend drinks for more throughout the week.”