Economics
Britons Under Lockdown Turn to Alcohol in Record Splurge
A customer ascends an escalator behind a shelf displaying bottles of wine in a supermarket.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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Official figures Friday confirmed what many Britons have privately known for weeks: The lockdown may keep them out of the pub, but it won’t stop them drinking.
Alcohol stores, one of only a few retail sectors allowed to remain open under strict social distancing rules, saw sales surge by almost a third in March -– the biggest monthly increase since records began in 1988. The figure doesn’t include supermarkets, where the vast majority of alcohol is bought.