Official Statistics

Quality report: Alcohol Bulletin

Updated 29 May 2026

Contact information

The Alcohol Bulletin accredited official statistical release and this Quality Report are produced by the Indirect Tax Excise Policy Analysis team. This team is part of the Knowledge, Analysis, and Intelligence (KAI) directorate within HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Contact revenuemonitoring@hmrc.gov.uk for any queries about this Quality Report or the statistical release.

About Alcohol Duty

Alcohol Duty is charged on alcoholic products produced or processed in the UK, as well as alcoholic products imported into the UK for consumption on the UK market. Alcoholic products are also subject to the standard rate of VAT.

From 1 August 2023, Alcohol Duty is charged by litre of pure alcohol on all categories of alcoholic products. For current Alcohol Duty rates, go to Alcohol Duty rates - GOV.UK. For historic Alcohol Duty rates, go to Alcohol Duty rates from 1 February 2019 - GOV.UK.

Section 2 of the Alcoholic products technical guide covers alcoholic products definitions and classification including how to calculate the duty.

Data limitations

The Alcohol Bulletin does not include geographical data on where liabilities occurred, as HMRC does not collect this data from taxpayers.

The statistics relate to cash receipts from Alcohol Duty and quantities of alcohol released for consumption by type of alcohol. They will not necessarily indicate the amount of alcohol consumed in the UK, since products may be consumed sometime after duty has been paid on them. They also do not cover duty free alcohol and other alcohol where duty has not been declared to HMRC.

Alcohol categories

Beer and cider

Beer is defined as ale, porter, stout and any other description of beer. It is dutiable in the UK once its strength exceeds 1.2% ABV. Taxpayers become liable for Alcohol Duty on beer once it is produced, imported or released onto the UK market for consumption.

Cider is defined as cider of a strength exceeding 1.2% ABV obtained from the fermentation of apple or pear juice. It becomes dutiable once it is produced, imported or released onto the UK market for consumption.

Spirits

Alcohol Duty on spirits is payable on any spirits, or any mixture or combination of spirits with anything else, at a strength of more than 1.2% ABV. Spirits are charged with Alcohol Duty as soon as they’ve been manufactured.

Alcohol Duty on spirits statistics for ex-ship (imported) and other clearances include gin and other UK produced spirits. A breakdown for these is not available.

Wine

Wine refers to wine (both still and sparkling) that is produced by fermentation of fresh grapes or grape must (freshly pressed fruit juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit). Wine includes grapes grown in the UK, as well as fortified wines and vermouth.

Other fermented products

Other fermented products (OFP) refers to any other drink (both still and sparkling) that has alcohol made by fermentation. This excludes beer, cider, wine and products produced through distillation or any other process. OFP also includes fermented beverages produced from concentrated grape juice.

Fermented product based ready to drink (RTD) coolers, and cider and perry with a strength exceeding 8.5% ABV are also included within OFP. Also included within coolers are alcoholic soft drinks and similar products of appropriate strength.

Payment of Alcohol Duty

Alcohol Duty receipts from beer, cider, wine, OFP and spirits are generally collected one month after clearances are recorded.

The exception to this is product released from excise warehouses where returns may be submitted twice monthly covering the 15th to the end of the corresponding calendar month and from the 1st to the 14th of the next calendar month. Total duty receipts from the two returns are then due on the 29th of the latter of the two months.

About this report

This quality report relates to Alcohol Bulletin statistics publications published from May 2024. These publications relate to data collected under the new Alcohol Duty system which has been in place since August 2023. This quality report replaces both the previous quality report and background and references note. Users can find the previous quality report and the previous background and references note relating to older versions of the Alcohol Bulletin in the National Archives.

The Alcohol Bulletin is published quarterly and presents statistics on Alcohol Duty receipts and clearances in the UK. The bulletin also reports on beer and spirits production by UK breweries and distilleries on a monthly (beer) and quarterly (spirits) basis.

‘Clearances’ refer to alcoholic product released onto the UK market for consumption, either from excise warehouses, production facilities, or following importation. This is also described as clearing product for ‘home use’.

When products are cleared for home use they pass through a ‘duty point’, at which point the duty becomes payable. Paid duty is recorded by HMRC as ‘receipts’. Traders informing HMRC of duty they intend to pay is known as ‘liabilities’.

Receipts are reported up to the latest full month before publication. Clearances and production data are reported one month behind that of duty receipts. This lag relates to the one month accounting period for alcohol duties, which provides traders approximately one month to pay duty after products pass a duty point.

The Alcohol Bulletin reports on historic data only. Alcohol Duty receipts forecasts are published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and can be found on the OBR website. Queries relating to forecasts should be directed to the OBR.

Classification system

When completing their tax return or customs declaration, alcohol producers, importers and excise warehouses are required to record a three digit tax code that identifies the type of alcohol and its ABV. HMRC uses these tax codes to categorise data into alcohol type (beer, wine, OFP, spirits and cider) and strength band.

Tax coverage

Alcohol Duty is an indirect tax charged following the production, importation, or releasing of products onto the UK market for consumption.

Who is liable to pay Alcohol Duty to HMRC depends upon which party is responsible for the products when they pass a duty point.

For example, if a UK approved producer of beer released beer products directly from their premises, then a duty point has been passed and they would be liable to pay duty. But if the products were transferred into an excise warehouse before being released, then whoever owns the products at this point would be liable.

Statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin are reported at UK-level, reflecting the coverage of UK legislation for the collection of alcohol duties.

Variable definitions

Receipts

Alcohol Duty receipts statistics are reported in pounds sterling, rounded to the nearest £ million, and are reported in the month and year receipts were received by HMRC.

Production

UK beer production levels are reported in litres of pure alcohol and total litres of product. These categories reflect the amount of beer produced by all UK breweries.

UK potable spirits product levels are reported in litres of pure alcohol. This category reflects the amount of potable (consumable) spirits produced in the UK.

Litres of alcohol

Litres of alcohol reflects litres of pure alcohol and not total litres of product. Only the UK beer product category is measured in total litres of product. All other categories in the bulletin are measured in litres of alcohol or millions of pounds.

Clearance groups

Alcohol production and clearances by product type are grouped into the following categories:

• Total UK alcohol production (beer and spirits only)

• Alcohol cleared by relief category

• Alcohol cleared by clearance origin

• Alcohol cleared by strength band

The following tables set out definitions for each group.

Table 1: Production categories (beer and spirits only)

Category	Description
UK potable spirits production (litres of alcohol)	Potable distilled spirits refer to any distillate capable of being used for beverage purposes. Product intended for industrial or agricultural use is excluded. The statistics include head and tail spirit, which is the amount of unusable or lower quality spirit that is produced at the beginning and end of the distillation process
UK beer production	Beer products cleared for consumption, plus duty suspended alcohol deliveries relating to finished alcoholic products produced by all UK approved producers of beer. These figures are reported in litres of product and litres of pure alcohol in the bulletin.

Table 2: Relief categories (beer, cider and OFP only)

Category	Description
Clearances claiming no relief (litres of alcohol)	Clearances of alcoholic products which do not claim either Small Producer Relief or Draught Relief
Clearances claiming Draught Relief (litres of alcohol)	Clearances of alcoholic products that claim Draught Relief but not Small Producer Relief
Clearances claiming Small Producer Relief only (litres of alcohol)	Clearances of alcoholic products that claim Small Producer Relief but not Draught Relief
Clearances claiming Draught Relief and Small Producer Relief (litres of alcohol)	Clearances of alcoholic products that claim both Small Producer Relief and Draught Relief

Table 3: Clearance origin categories

Category	Description
UK registered clearances (litres of alcohol)	Product released onto the UK market directly from the premises of approved alcohol producers
Ex-warehouse clearances (litres of alcohol)	Ex-warehouse clearances relate to products released onto the UK market from excise warehouses. For spirits, UK registered clearances are reported together with ex-warehouse clearances to comply with disclosure rules
Ex-ship clearances (litres of alcohol)	Imported alcoholic products released from excise warehouses for home use in the UK
Total clearances (litres of alcohol)	Sum of alcoholic products released onto the UK market for home use

Strength bands (ABV)

Alcohol by volume (ABV) is a measure of the strength of an alcoholic drink, expressed as the percentage of pure alcohol contained in the product. Since August 2023, all alcohol is taxed based on its ABV.

The strength bands and corresponding tax rates are published by HMRC. For some alcohol types (wine and OFP for example) clearances are grouped across multiple strengths bands in the Alcohol Bulletin. This is to prevent disclosure of taxpayer information.

In the Alcohol Bulletin, clearances are categorised into ABV strength bands as follows.

Beer

The less than 3.5% ABV category includes clearances of beer with an ABV less than 3.5%

The at least 3.5% ABV but less than 8.5% ABV category includes clearances of beer with an ABV between 3.5% and 8.4%.

The least 8.5% ABV category includes clearances of beer with an ABV of 8.5% or more.

Cider

Cider clearances are categorised by origin (ex-ship, ex-warehouse and UK registered) and relief status. Cider clearances are not disaggregated by strength band. This is to prevent disclosure of taxpayer information.

Spirits

The less than 3.5% ABV category includes clearances of spirits with an ABV less than 3.5%

The at least 3.5% ABV but less than 8.5% ABV category includes clearances of spirits with an ABV between 3.5% and 8.4%.

The at least 8.5% ABV but less than 22% ABV category includes clearances of spirits with an ABV between 8.5% and 21.9%.

The at least 22% ABV category includes clearances of spirits with an ABV of 22% or more.

Wine

The less than 8.5% ABV category includes clearances of wine with an ABV less than 8.5%.

The at least 8.5% ABV category includes clearances of wine with an ABV of 8.5% or more.

More granular breakdowns are not published as this information would be disclosive.

Other fermented products

The less than 8.5% ABV (including sparkling cider from 5.5% to 8.5% ABV) category includes clearances of OFP with an ABV less than 8.5%.

The at least 8.5% ABV category includes clearances of OFP with an ABV of 8.5% or more.

More granular breakdowns are not published as this information would be disclosive.

Reported time periods

All statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin are aggregated and reported by financial year, calendar year, and month. This is a standard format used within most of HMRC’s excise duties, VAT and other indirect tax statistics.

As Alcohol Duty follows a monthly accounting period, the monthly tables format effectively demonstrates the trend created by this form of accounting for users.

Statistical unit

The statistical unit for data collection is UK businesses and entities required to pay Alcohol Duty. This includes, but is not limited to, producers, warehouse keepers, and importers of alcoholic products.

Time coverage

As the Alcohol Duty system was reformed in August 2023, the financial year time series starts in 2023 to 2024 until the latest full financial year for which data is available. The 2023 calendar year and 2023 to 2024 financial year time series begin in August 2023 to align with reforms to the duty system. Because of this, these time series do not represent a full year of clearances. This does not apply to receipts figures which represent complete financial or calendar years from 2023 to 2024. This means the 2023 calendar year and 2023 to 2024 financial year receipts figures cover two different Alcohol Duty regimes.

The calendar year time series start from the year 2023 until the latest full calendar year for which data is available.

The monthly time series start from August 2023 until the latest full month for which data is available.

Statistical processing

Source data

Statistics for Alcohol Duty are sourced from administrative data collected by HMRC whilst conducting its responsibilities as a tax authority.

This administrative data is submitted by traders within various forms used to declare liabilities and production levels for alcohol products.

Table 4: HMRC Alcohol Duty forms

Form	Purpose
Beer Return (EX46)	Used by UK based traders to inform HMRC of beer products passing a duty point directly from their premises . This form was used until January 2025 after which it was replaced by the producer return
Wine, cider and OFP return (EX606)	Used by UK based traders to inform HMRC of wine, cider and OFP passing a duty point directly from their premises . This form was used until January 2025 after which it was replaced by the producer return
Alcohol Duty Return	Used by UK based alcohol producers to inform HMRC of alcohol products passing a duty point directly from their approved premises . Most traders started using this form from February 2025 onwards. This form covers all types of alcoholic product and replaced the beer, wine, cider and other fermented product returns.
Customs Declaration	Used by importers of alcoholic products to inform HMRC of alcohol being imported directly onto the UK market or released from a customs warehouse
Remittance advice for alcohol products (W5)	Used by UK based excise warehouses to inform HMRC of alcohol products passing a duty point
Deferment advice for alcohol products (W5D)	Used by UK based excise warehouses to inform HMRC of alcohol products passing a duty point, but where payment of duty is deferred
Quarterly Distillery Return (W21)	Used by UK registered distilleries to inform HMRC of quarterly spirits production, types of materials used, quantity of materials used and amount of spirits produced . This form was in use until January 2025

Data Collection

The Indirect Tax Receipts Monitoring team collect source data from various systems.

Alcohol Duty receipts data is downloaded each month for internal analysis and reporting. Alcohol Duty receipts are also published externally within the monthly HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK accredited official statistics release.

Data for alcohol clearances and production levels are downloaded from multiple systems on a quarterly basis for use within the Alcohol Bulletin.

Table 5: HMRC systems and their purpose

System	Purpose
Customs and Excise Core Accounting System (CECAS)	HMRC Accounting system for Alcohol Duty receipts. We extract receipts data from this system
Enterprise Tax Management Platform (ETMP)	HMRC system used to process tax returns, manage tax accounting and payments, and store data across multiple tax regimes within a single platform. Alcohol Duty receipts are also extracted from this system
Customs Declaration Service	HMRC system used by traders and their agents to submit import and export customs declarations and manage associated duties, VAT and customs accounts
Manage your Alcohol Duty service	A HMRC system used by UK alcohol producers to submit information on alcohol produced and released onto the UK market
Alcohol and Tobacco Warehousing Declarations (ATWD)	HMRC system used by traders to submit W5 and W5D excise warehousing forms
Beer Duty system	Structured Query Language (SQL) database used by HMRC to store and extract data from EX46 forms. This system was in use until January 2025
UK Distilleries system	Structured Query Language (SQL) database used by HMRC to store and extract data from W21 forms . This system was in use until January 2025
Trader Accounting Payment System (TAPS)	A HMRC system handling the registration of wine, cider and Other Fermented Product traders as well as their duty declarations. This system was in use until January 2025

Data Validation

CECAS and ETMP Alcohol Duty receipts data

Alcohol Duty payments (receipts) are initially received and processed by the HMRC Chief Finance Officer (CFO) directorate. Prior to CFO submitting receipts information to CECAS and ETMP, it follows a sequence of quality assurance (QA) activities, including sign off by management and reconciliation teams.

Once Alcohol Duty receipts data is extracted from CECAS and ETMP, the KAI directorate complete sense checks to ensure values are within an expected variance. Any errors are then investigated in coordination with CFO and the CECAS management team.

Adjustment factors

Individual adjustment factors are calculated for each alcohol type (beer, cider, wine, spirits and OFP). These adjustment factors are applied to clearances and are based on the ratio of gross to net total receipts for each alcohol type. Typically, applying adjustment factors results in clearances changing by less than 2% each month.

Adjustment factors are used to move clearances from a gross to a net position and are necessary because liabilities data for individual alcohol types doesn’t include any repayments. Applying adjustment factors therefore limits any overestimations of clearances.

Quality assurance

All accredited official statistics produced by HMRC follow the standards set out in the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) Code of Practice for Official Statistics. This includes applying quality assurance procedures to ensure statistics are accurate and fit for purpose.

For each project, analysts and managers assess the level of quality assurance needed based on risk. They develop a plan and checklist setting out the checks to be carried out.

Analysts complete these checks and record the results. The work is then reviewed and approved by a senior responsible officer before publication.

Quality assurance checklists

KAI refer to a bespoke QA checklist during production of these accredited official statistics. This provides assurance to analysts and management whilst signing off statistics for publication that relevant QA checks have been completed. This checklist is structured as follows:

Stage 1 – Specifying the question

Up to date documentation was agreed with stakeholders setting out outputs needed and by when, how the outputs will be used, and all parameters required for the analysis.

Stage 2 – Developing the methodology

Methodology was agreed and developed in collaboration with stakeholders and others with relevant expertise, ensuring it was fit for purpose and would deliver the required outputs.

Stage 3 – Building and populating a model/piece of code

The bulletin was quality assessed as follows:

• analysis was produced using the most appropriate software and in line with good practice guidance

• data inputs were checked to ensure they were fit-for-purpose by reviewing available documentation and, where possible, through direct contact with data suppliers

• QA of the input data was carried out

• the analysis was audited by someone other than the lead analyst, including a process of challenging methodological procedures and decisions

Stage 4 – Running and testing the model and code

The bulletin was quality assessed as follows:

• liabilities for each clearance category are compared to clearance volumes to ensure alignment. Where necessary, clearances are corrected to align to liabilities.

• liabilities for each clearance category are compared to receipts and are differences are investigated to ensure they are genuine

• results were compared with those produced in previous years and differences understood and determined to be genuine

• results were determined to be explainable and in line with expectations

Stage 5 – Drafting the final output

The final outputs were quality assessed as follows:

• checks were completed to ensure internal consistency, for example that totals equal the sum of the components

• the final outputs were independently proof read and checked

Relevance

User needs

This analysis is likely to be of interest to users under the following broad headings:

• national government, for example policy makers and Members of Parliament (MP)

• regional and local governments

• academia and research bodies

• media

• industry stakeholders

• general public

User satisfaction

Over time the Alcohol Bulletin has evolved as a result of information discovered through consultations and surveys.

Examples of previous consultations and surveys include:

• a user engagement survey in 2010 resulted in changes to the bulletin, including consolidating it from 4 separate bulletins into one, and the inclusion of historical data

• following a UKSA report from 2012, further changes were made to the bulletin, including the inclusion of commentary, graphs and background information

• in 2016, the frequency of the bulletin was altered from monthly to quarterly as a result of a consultation

Completeness

It is a legal requirement for all entities involved in the production, warehousing, and importation, of alcoholic products to be approved by HMRC and to submit regular returns. Penalties for non-compliance are also levied by HMRC.

As such, KAI are confident that the statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin capture activity from a majority of relevant entities

However, it is known that tax evasion relating to alcohol products exists, and this activity is not estimated or included within the Alcohol Bulletin. The HMRC Measuring tax gaps official statistics estimate lost revenue from these activities on an annual basis.

Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy

This bulletin is based on administrative data, and accuracy is addressed by eliminating non-sampling errors as much as possible through adherence to the quality assurance framework.

The nature of the administrative data used may mean some errors exist in the recorded figures which will impact the accuracy of HMRC’s estimates.

The potential sources of error include:

• traders submitting incorrect information within tax returns

• traders not submitting their returns by the required date

• human or software error when entering the data into systems

• errors within the programming code used to analyse the data and produce statistics

Sampling error

No sampling takes place within the Alcohol Bulletin.

Coverage error

The data used to produce this bulletin is wide ranging, and includes all alcoholic products that are released onto the UK market for home use for which HMRC is notified. We believe the bulletin captures the majority of alcoholic products circulating within the UK market, as notifying HMRC is a legal requirement.

Estimates of revenue lost through tax evasion and duty-free alcohol products are excluded from the Alcohol Bulletin.

Coverage error isn’t deemed to be of concern for these accredited official statistics.

Measurement error

The main sources of measurement error is respondent errors and include the following:

• traders making errors whilst entering information onto tax returns, both on paper and electronically

• human or software error may alter trader tax return data, which is entered onto HMRC systems either manually or by electronic transmission

Non response error

The Alcohol Bulletin is based upon routine administrative data, related to Alcohol Duty receipts and clearances of alcoholic products. Non response error is therefore not relevant.

Processing error

It is possible that errors exist in the programming code used to analyse the data and produce statistics. This risk is reduced through developing a good understanding of the code and thoroughly reviewing and testing the programs that are used.

Data revision policy

The Alcohol Bulletin aligns with the HMRC policy on revisions to official statistics.

The UKSA Code of Practice for official statistics requires all producers of official statistics to publish transparent guidance on their policy for revisions.

Data revision in practice

Months are marked as provisional until Alcohol Duty receipts are aligned with the annual HMRC Trust Statement, in line with the HMRC tax receipts bulletin. Where there are revisions to figures they are clearly marked as ‘revised’, and information is given as to the reasons and scale of revisions if appropriate.

The bulletin is released quarterly. Within each release, the previous data is reviewed and any revisions descending from this are highlighted within the Markup code used to produce the statistics and marked as ‘revised’ within the published tables.

On an annual basis, receipts statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin are aligned within the HMRC Annual report and accounts. This results in revisions to March statistics and the latest complete financial year.

Seasonal adjustment

No seasonal adjustment occurs within the Alcohol Bulletin and is therefore not relevant to the publication.

Timeliness and punctuality

Timeliness

The Alcohol Bulletin is published one month after the end of the reporting period for the latest receipts. For example, the bulletin published at the end of February includes Alcohol Duty receipts up to January.

The bulletin takes approximately one week to produce, with the data not being available until after the middle of the month. The remaining time is spent quality assuring prior to publication.

Punctuality

In accordance with the UKSA Code of Practice for Statistics, HMRC announce the exact date of publication for the Alcohol Bulletin no later than 28 days before its release. Go to the Research and statistics section of GOV.UK for these announcements.

Publication dates are first announced as provisional, then changed to a confirmed status no later than 14 days before publication. HMRC also centrally publish proposed months for publication in advance within the Schedule of updates for HMRC’s statistics.

Any delays or changes to publication dates are also communicated within the HMRC statistics announcements document.

Coherence and comparability

Alcohol Duty reforms were introduced in August 2023 to simplify and modernise how alcohol is taxed in the UK. Alcohol Duty rates are now based on the strength of the product (ABV). Alcohol Duty reforms also saw two new reliefs introduced

• Small Producer Relief

• Draught Relief

The Alcohol Bulletin was updated in May 2024 to reflect the updated duty system. Previous versions of the Alcohol Bulletin which reflect the old duty system are hosted on the UK Government Web Archive from the National Archive. As the duty system was fundamentally reformed in 2023, current versions of the Alcohol Bulletin cannot be compared to pre-reform versions of the bulletin.

Coherence (cross domain)

There are no known issues regarding coherence between domains for the Alcohol Bulletin.

Coherence (sub-annual and annul statistics)

There are no known issues regarding coherence between sub-annual and annual statistics for the Alcohol Bulletin.

Coherence (national accounts)

These statistics are coherent with the national accounts framework.

However, users should note that KAI report Alcohol Duty receipts on a cash basis (when payments are received), but within some national accounts publications, such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Public Sector Finances, Alcohol Duty receipts are reported on an accrued basis (when tax liabilities were accrued).

Coherence (internal)

There are no known issues regarding coherence between internal datasets for the Alcohol Bulletin.

Accessibility and clarity

News release

There are no recent press releases relating to the Alcohol Bulletin.

Publication

The data within the Alcohol Bulletin is publicly available, and is published at 9:30 on the pre-announced date of release.

The Alcohol Bulletin commentary is published in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, as generated within internal GOV.UK HTML Markdown production software. The Alcohol Bulletin data tables are published in Open Document Spreadsheet (ODS) format.

Online databases

The Alcohol Bulletin statistics aren’t known to be used in any online databases.

Micro-data access

Access to this data is not possible in micro-data form, due to HMRC’s responsibilities around maintaining confidentiality of taxpayer information.

Other

There aren’t any other dissemination formats available for Alcohol Bulletin statistics

Documentation on methodology

All relevant information relating to the Alcohol Bulletin statistics can be found in this quality report or in the commentary published alongside the Alcohol Bulletin.

Cost and burden

Each quarterly update for the Alcohol Bulletin takes approximately 5 working days for the main analyst to produce and receive QA feedback from senior management and policy makers. The annual cost, therefore, is around 20 days per year (5 days per bulletin x 4 bulletins per year).

There is no respondent burden since the data is taken from administrative sources which are used by taxpayers to make their usual returns to HMRC.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality (policy)

HMRC has a legal duty to maintain the confidentiality of taxpayer information.

Section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA) sets out our duty of confidentiality.

This analysis complies with this requirement.

Confidentiality (data treatment)

Before going live, the Alcohol Bulletin is classified as pre-released official accredited statistics, and is therefore subject to a restricted protective marking when referred to in email correspondence and is subject to the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which is strictly enforced.

Accredited official statistics

Alcohol Bulletin statistics are accredited official statistics.

Accredited official statistics were previously known as National Statistics. The United Kingdom Statistics Authority (UKSA) has given these statistics accredited official statistics status, this means that the statistics comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics as set out within the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Accredited official statistics status can generally be interpreted to mean that statistics:

• meet user needs

• are effectively communicated and accessible

• undergo regular quality assurance reviews

• produced professional and according to sound methods

• managed impartially in the public interest and free of political interference

Contact UKSA for queries about accredited official, national and official statistics.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing revenuemonitoring@hmrc.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

The Alcohol Bulletin statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. Accredited official statistics are called national statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Related statistics

The HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK national statistics provide the first provisional snapshot of cash receipts statistics each month.

The HMRC Measuring tax gaps official statistics estimate the tax gap for all taxes and duties administered by the department.

HMRC publish the Tax ready reckoner official statistics which show the estimated direct impact on HMRC tax revenues if simple changes were made to various taxes. They are intended to assist researchers and policymakers.

Publication calendar

The Alcohol Bulletin is published on the last working day of the month in February, May, August and November. It is delayed by one day when the day before the last working day is a non-working day. The bulletin is also never published on a Monday.

From 30 August 2019, the Alcohol Bulletin has been published on GOV.UK.

Archive versions of the Alcohol Bulletin published on GOV.UK after August 2019 are no longer hosted on this page and are instead available via the UK Government Web Archive, from the National Archives.

Archive versions of the Alcohol Bulletin published between 2008 and August 2019 are found on the archived UK Trade Info website, accessed via the National Archives.

Go to research and statistics for future Alcohol Bulletin release date announcements. Announcements are published no later than 4 weeks before the planned release date.