According to new research, the number of pubs across England and Wales is continuing to decline, reaching its lowest point on record in this year’s records.

According to Altus Group, there were 39,970 pubs as of June 2012. This is a decrease of more than 7,000 from 2012

It warned that after struggling with Covid, the industry was now facing soaring energy costs and high prices.

Although the government claimed it had reduced taxes to aid, industry groups demanded more.

Over the past decade, thousands of pubs closed. Younger people have less to drink and supermarkets sell more alcohol. The industry has complained about being too taxed.

The Office for National Statistics reported that the sector was making progress in 2019, with a 10 year-old increase in its size.

However, it declined once again during the pandemic. Lockdowns forced pubs into closing or implementing strict social distancing regulations.

Altus reports that 400 pubs in England and Wales were closed last year, while 200 went out of business in the first half 2022 after inflation began to eat into their profits.

Robert Hayton, Altus’ UK head, stated: “While pubs were remarkably resilient during pandemic, now they face new headwinds in dealing with the cost to do business in crisis due to soaring energy prices, inflationary pressures, and tax rises.”

The research found that the West Midlands had 28 pub closings during the first six months in 2022.

London and the East of England followed suit, both of which lost 24.

Altus stated that pubs that had disappeared from their former communities had been either demolished or converted to other uses, so they were “lost for good”.

Emma McClarkin (CEO of the British Beer and Pub Association) stated: “When pubs have to close, it’s a huge cost to the community. These numbers paint a disturbing picture of how pubs are disappearing in towns and villages across the country.

She added that “as a sector, we just survived the hardest two years in memory, and now we face the challenge to extreme rising costs.”

“We must get relief from these pressures, or we risk losing more pubs every year.”

Only 37% of hospitality businesses, according to the BBPA, UK Hospitality and the British Institute of Innkeeping, are turning a profit.

Respondents said that rising energy and labor costs were the most important factors.

Pub bosses warned last week that summer rail strikes could reduce their profits and further weaken consumer demand.

Although the government admitted that it couldn’t control inflation from “global factors”, the government continued to support the hospitality industry.

A spokesperson said that the tax cuts were made for hundreds of thousands businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance and slashing fuel duties.

“We have also provided a 50% relief on business rates for High Street businesses, and stopped bill increases by freezing business rates multiplier. This will save businesses PS4.6bn over five years.”