Melbourne pays premium for pints as Australian beer prices surge 38% since 2020

The price of a pint has become a genuine shock to Australian drinkers. Since the start of 2020, the average cost of a beer at the pub has climbed from $9.96 to $13.76—nearly a dollar every eighteen months. For those nursing a drink in Melbourne, the sting is sharper still. The city consistently charges more than anywhere else in the country for the same beers that cost less across the border or up the coast.

The data, drawn from payment processor Square's records across Australian capital cities, reveals a stark geography of pricing. A pint of Balter XPA runs $15.70 in Melbourne but considerably less in Perth. Guinness sits at $15.51 in Melbourne, Carlton Draught at $13.91. Even the cheapest mainstream beer tracked—XXXX Gold—now averages $11.24 nationally, a figure that would have seemed impossible just years ago. The $10 pint has effectively vanished. Premium craft beers like Balter XPA and Guinness are drifting toward the $15 mark, while the gap between craft and mainstream has only widened.

The sharpest jumps arrived after lockdowns ended in 2022, when most pubs raised prices by roughly 10 per cent in a single year. Publicans had held the line as long as they could during the early inflation surge, which is why beer prices seemed to lag behind grocery costs initially. But once they moved, they never moved back. Square's David Schnabl noted that increases have moderated annually since then, yet the trajectory remains relentlessly upward. Great Northern, Australia's best-selling beer, has climbed 43 per cent since 2020—from $8.21 to $11.73. Guinness has risen 41 per cent from $10.25.

Melbourne's premium pricing reflects the particular burden placed on Victorian publicans. The state layers on levies and taxes that other states do not: a mental health wellbeing levy, a COVID-19 debt repayment payroll tax on venues with payroll exceeding $10 million, higher land tax, steeper council rates, and stricter licensing conditions including mandatory security-to-patron ratios for late-night venues. These costs compress margins and flow directly to the customer. James Smith, founder of The Crafty Pint and a beer industry analyst, hears the frustration from pub owners regularly. Yet Carlton Draught remains Victoria's most ordered tap beer, suggesting customers will pay the premium regardless of sticker shock.

Perth's relative affordability appears rooted in cultural and historical factors. About 8 per cent of greater Perth's population was born in England, where pints are the standard beer measure, compared with 2.9 per cent in greater Sydney. This means pints are the baseline price in Perth rather than a premium charge, which has kept costs down over time. In New South Wales and Queensland, pints command a surcharge over the standard schooner. South Australia complicates the picture further: a "pint" there measures 425 millilitres—what a schooner is everywhere else—while ordering a schooner in Adelaide gets you a Sydney middy of 285 millilitres. These regional variations in glassware and custom have shaped pricing patterns across decades.

Behind the pub price lies a structural fact: Australia levies the world's third-highest alcohol excise tax. The tax rises twice yearly, tied to inflation, which means beer prices climb automatically regardless of what happens in breweries or at the bar. Since 2000, beer prices have risen 113 per cent nominally, but after accounting for general inflation, the real increase is about 27 per cent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attempted relief last year by freezing the excise on draught beer for two years—a move he framed as commonsense policy for drinkers, brewers, and pubs alike. But the freeze applies only to tap beer, which represents 90 per cent of the draught market and is controlled almost entirely by two foreign multinationals: Lion (owned by Japanese conglomerate Kirin) and CUB (owned by Japanese rival Asahi). The Independent Brewers Association's Kylie Lethbridge was blunt: the freeze merely gives large producers breathing room to absorb costs or hold prices steady. It will not reduce what customers pay now.