Australia Rejects $15 Beer Pints as Prices Since 2000 Outpace US by 75.6 Points

1 articles · Updated · MacroBusiness · Jul 20

$15 pints are increasingly pricing Australians out of pubs, with many drinking at home instead as beer becomes a symbol of broader cost-of-living strain.
Beer prices in Australia have risen 157.6% since 2000, far above the United States at 82.0%, Germany at 67.0%, Britain at 30.3% and Japan at -3.0%, according to IFM Investors data.
About 90 cents of a pint comes from excise tax, or just under $1 including GST on that tax, making Australia unusually exposed to tax-driven beer inflation.
Under-45 spending outside housing costs was lower in 2022 than in 2004 in real terms, suggesting high rents, weak living-standard growth and heavier taxation are squeezing discretionary spending well beyond the pub.