Ellen McGrane is a Research Associate in Alcohol and Public Health within the Sheffield Addictions Research Group and the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions. She holds degrees in Economics and Health Economics from the University of Sheffield and has worked at the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research since 2024. Ellen completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield, exploring the impact of gambling advertising during live sport. Since completing her PhD, her research has included conceptualising a whole-population model of alcohol that better integrates alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence, contributing to reviews of the evidence on Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol, and undertaking a range of smaller quantitative projects. She also continues to pursue her research interests in gambling.

Abstract

The effect of minimum unit pricing on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related health and social outcomes: A systematic review of evaluation studies

Aims: Minimum unit pricing sets a legal floor price per unit or standard drink of alcohol. Since 2018, four jurisdictions (Scotland, Wales, Australia’s Northern Territory and Ireland) have implemented MUP and commissioned substantial evaluation programmes, generating a large body of real-world evidence. This systematic review synthesises the evidence to assess effects on alcohol consumption and related health and social outcomes.

Methods: We systematically reviewed peer-reviewed and grey literature in line with PRISMA guidelines. We searched Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase, as well as websites of relevant organisations. Risk of bias was assessed using ROBINS-I, with evidence certainty assessed for seven main outcomes using the GRADE tool. Due to substantial heterogeneity in outcomes and study designs, findings were synthesised according to Synthesis Without Meta-Analysis guidelines.

Results: Fifty-one included studies evaluated the effects of minimum unit pricing. Results indicated moderate certainty in the evidence that minimum unit pricing reduces alcohol consumption (n=28) and alcohol-specific mortality (n=2), low certainty evidence that it reduces alcohol-related hospitalisations (n=9) and very low certainty evidence of little to no effects on other health and social outcomes (n=39). Evidence certainty varies by jurisdiction, with Scotland providing the highest certainty.

Conclusions: Minimum unit pricing is an effective public health intervention for reducing alcohol consumption and mortality, but evidence from outside the UK is generally lower quality and impacts on social outcomes, including alcohol-related violence, remain unclear.