On this page:

News Release

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

Listen

Liquor Licensing in Scotland

09/06/2005

Figures released today show there were 17,023 liquor licences in force in Scotland at 31 December 2004, the equivalent of 43 licences for every 10,000 persons aged 18 and over in Scotland.

Other main findings in the Liquor Licensing in Scotland, 2000 - 2004 publication include:

  • Over a third of the licences in force in 2004 were for off-sale premises and a further 30 per cent were for public houses. The remainder covered licences for hotels, restaurants, cafes, etc.
  • From 1980 to 2004, there was a 18-fold increase in the number of refreshment licences (from 34 to 600) and a 62 per cent increase in the number of restaurant licences (from 921 to 1,489). The number of hotels (excluding restricted hotels) decreased by 21 per cent (from 2,959 to 2,329) over this period.
  • The number of off-sale licences rose from 4,899 in 1980 to 6,368 in 2000, an increase of 30 per cent, before falling back slightly to 6,103 in 2004.
  • There were 10,258 premises with one or more regular extensions to permitted hours in 2004.
  • There were 781 new applications for liquor licences in Scotland in 2004; 25 fewer than in 2003. Ninety-four per cent of these were granted a licence.
  • There were 2,347 registered clubs (golf, bowling, social etc.) at 31 December 2004, 2 fewer than at 31 December 2003.

Page updated: Thursday, June 9, 2005