Britain lost around 6,000 licensed premises last year, the latest Market Recovery Monitor from CGA and AlixPartners reveals—nearly triple the number in 2019.

It shows that the COVID-19 pandemic and wave of lockdowns contributed to a net decline of 5,975 sites in 2020. This represents a 5.1% contraction in the market since the end of 2019, and a 175% increase on the 2,171 drop in sites that year.

The turmoil of 2020 led to the permanent closure of 9,930 sites, with only 3,955 opening for the first time. It means that for every new opening in the market last year there were 2.5 closures—close to double the ratio of 1.3 in 2019. Download Market Recovery Monitor January for more information.