For arrival in Great Britain from outside the UK, an eligible traveller can bring 42 litres of beer and 18 litres of still wine, plus either 4 litres of drinks over 22% ABV or 9 litres of other alcoholic drinks up to 22% ABV. That final allowance can be split proportionally. GOV.UK Great Britain allowances
The practical challenge is putting each drink in the correct category. Sparkling wine is not part of the still-wine allowance, and cider is not beer for this calculation. This guide uses official guidance checked on 24 September 2026.
Check that Great Britain is your destination
Great Britain means England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate guidance, and journeys between Great Britain and Northern Ireland need their own check. Start with the official UK overview if your itinerary includes Belfast or another Northern Ireland arrival.
The allowances concern goods you transport yourself for your own use or gifts. Commercial goods require declaration and do not receive the personal allowance. A shop calling your purchase “duty free” does not change the destination rules. GOV.UK scope and purchasing rules
Before shopping, write your arrival place at the top of the packing list. “UK trip” is too broad to resolve the customs route. Also identify whether you will actually pass through border controls during a connection.
Sort bottles into three running totals
Create separate lines for beer, still wine and the shared spirits/other-drinks allowance. GOV.UK places sparkling wine, fortified wine and cider in the last group when their strength is no more than 22%. Travellers under 17 have no alcohol allowance, and people cannot pool personal allowances. Official categories and eligibility
Read the product type and ABV on each label. Then record the size in litres. For familiar 750 mL bottles, use 0.75 litres; for a 500 mL can, use 0.5 litres.
Keep different strengths on separate lines even if the bottles look similar. A fortified drink and a spirit can have similar packaging while consuming different proportions of the shared allowance.
For the headline figures without the worksheet, use the Great Britain alcohol reference.
Work out a mixed spirits and sparkling-wine purchase
Calculate the fraction used by each side of the shared allowance:
- Litres above 22% ABV divided by 4.
- Litres up to 22% ABV in this shared group divided by 9.
- Add those fractions; a total no greater than 1 fits the allowance.
For example, one 1 litre spirit bottle uses one-quarter of the shared allowance. Three 750 mL sparkling-wine bottles total 2.25 litres and use another quarter. Together they use half.
Try a fuller basket: two 1 litre spirit bottles plus six 750 mL sparkling-wine bottles. The spirits use half; 4.5 litres of sparkling wine use the other half. The shared allowance is now fully used.
Adding one more 750 mL sparkling bottle to that basket makes 5.25 litres on the lower-strength side. Half plus 5.25 divided by 9 is about 1.083: over the allowance.
These are arithmetic examples of the proportional rule, not permission to transfer spare beer or still-wine capacity into spirits. Keep all three running totals separate.
Convert a wine purchase without misclassifying it
A case of twelve 750 mL still-wine bottles contains 9 litres. Two such cases contain 18 litres. The same number of sparkling-wine bottles would need a different calculation because sparkling wine uses the shared category.
Suppose you buy six still wines and six sparkling wines, all 750 mL. Write 4.5 litres on the still-wine line and 4.5 litres on the shared-category line. Do not write “9 litres of wine” and stop there.
The wine reference is useful for a quick follow-up, but keep your bottle-by-bottle worksheet when your purchase mixes drink types.
If you go over, declare the full category
Tax and duty apply to all goods in an exceeded category, not only the extra amount. GOV.UK’s example is 19 litres of still wine: all 19 litres become taxable. Exceeding a Great Britain allowance
You can declare online within 120 hours before arrival and calculate the payment there. If online declaration is unsuitable or unavailable, the official guidance explains the red channel or red-point phone at the border. When and how to declare
Keep receipts, quantities and strengths ready. Do not budget for a generic charge per extra bottle; let the official process calculate the amount for the actual goods.
Separate the customs worksheet from flight packing
A customs allowance can be much larger than a practical suitcase load. Check baggage weight and bottle acceptance with your carrier before buying cases of wine.
At UK security, permitted liquid-container sizes depend on the airport. Airport and onboard purchases may have sealed-bag and receipt conditions, and transfers require another check. GOV.UK hand-luggage liquids guidance
For the final review:
- Confirm Great Britain rather than Northern Ireland rules apply.
- Check each traveller’s own eligibility and quantities.
- Separate beer, still wine and the shared category.
- Include gifts and airport purchases.
- Recalculate after replacing a bottle with a different size or strength.
- Keep declaration records accessible if you exceed an allowance.
Can two friends use one combined allowance?
No. Plan each traveller’s list separately. A shared booking or bag does not create the pooling permission that GOV.UK expressly excludes.