Brits are cutting back on taxis and kebabs to limit the cost of their night out, study suggests - as data shows how much more revellers are spending since the pandemic

The average Brit spends £4,000 a year on going out but most attempt to cut costs by walking home with an empty stomach rather than jumping in a taxi with a late-night kebab in hand.

Research released today by MoneySuperMarket reveals that the cost of a night out has increased in most UK cities since 2019.

Pre-pandemic revellers partied harder and for cheaper, going out seven nights every month for an average cost of £61 but nowadays people only go out five times per month and spend £67 each time they do.

If spending had risen in line with inflation, party-goers would be spending nearly £82 on every night out in 2024, showing that people are attempting to cut the costs of socialising.

In an effort to save amid a cost of living crisis, almost three-quarters of clubbers nowadays opt to walk home rather than hopping in a taxi, and 60 per cent avoid getting fast-food on the way.

However there are some sacrifices Brits are not willing to make with more than half choosing cocktails on a night out over more economical drinks like lager. 

While the average Brit spends £4,000 per year on nights out, it is those in Sheffield who top the spending list.

The average person in the Northern city spends a whopping £112.40 on every night out.

Party-goers in Edinburgh spend the second most on a night out with £80, while Mancunians spend slightly less at £77 on every night out.

Plymouth, in comparison, seems slightly boring with most people saying they only go out once a month and spend a mere £22.90 when they do.

The survey also asked city-dwellers how they rated their city's selection of nightlife.

Only four per cent of locals in Plymouth considered their night-time entertainment options as good, compared to 28 per cent nationwide.

Residents in Southampton were the next least pleased, although 19 per cent considered their city's offerings as the best in Britain.

People in Newcastle believe they have the best nightlife in the country, followed by Liverpool and Manchester - perhaps proving that the north of England truly is the UK's cultural capital.

Glasgow and Leeds follow the top three closely with 43 per cent of people ranking night life as good.

It is no surprise that the pandemic made the average person far less sociable.

Across most of the 17 cities surveyed, going out rates have fallen or remained the same between 2019 and 2024.

But locals in Newcastle and Belfast have bucked the trend, venturing out more this year than they did before the pandemic.

The average person in Belfast and Manchester went out more than any other city-dweller with an average of seven times per month.

Londoners manage just five nights per month, down from seven in 2019.