Quick answer: To convert litres to UK pints, multiply by 1.75975. One litre is 1.76 imperial pints, two litres is 3.52 pints and five litres is 8.80 pints. To go the other way, multiply pints by 0.568. Watch out for American calculators, which use the smaller US pint and give 2.11 pints per litre.
Bottles, cartons and kegs are sold in litres, but many people still picture quantities in pints. Below you will find a two-way converter, a quick mental method, printable charts and a few everyday British examples. For the rest of the volume family, from millilitres to gallons, see our volume and capacity conversions hub.
Litres to UK pints
litres= UK pintsUK pints to litres
UK pints= litresHow many UK pints are in a litre?
There are 1.75975 UK pints in one litre. The figure comes from dividing 1,000 ml by the legal size of the imperial pint, 568.26125 ml. Rounded to two decimal places it is 1.76, and that is accurate enough for anything outside a laboratory.
What is the formula for litres to pints?
UK pints = litres × 1.75975, and litres = UK pints × 0.56826. Both factors are exact reciprocals of each other, so you can convert back and forth without the answer drifting.
For mental arithmetic, multiply litres by 1¾. Three-quarters is easy: halve the number, halve it again, and add the two halves. The shortcut is only 0.55% low, so 4 litres comes out as 7 pints instead of 7.04. When you need several units at once, the volume converter handles litres, pints, gallons and fluid ounces side by side.
Worked examples
- A 2-litre bottle of milk. 2 × 1.75975 = 3.52 pints, so it holds a little over three and a half pints.
- A 20-litre bag-in-box of cider. 20 × 1.75975 = 35.2 pints, enough for 35 full pints with a little left over.
- A firkin of real ale. A firkin is 9 imperial gallons, or 72 pints. Converted the other way, 72 × 0.56826 = 40.91 litres.
Litres to UK pints chart
The US pint column is included because many online answers quietly use it. If a figure you have seen is about 20% higher than the UK column, it was almost certainly worked out in US pints.
| Litres | UK pints | US pints |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 L (250 ml) | 0.44 | 0.53 |
| 0.5 L (500 ml) | 0.88 | 1.06 |
| 0.75 L (750 ml) | 1.32 | 1.59 |
| 1 L | 1.76 | 2.11 |
| 1.5 L | 2.64 | 3.17 |
| 2 L | 3.52 | 4.23 |
| 2.5 L | 4.40 | 5.28 |
| 3 L | 5.28 | 6.34 |
| 4 L | 7.04 | 8.45 |
| 5 L | 8.80 | 10.57 |
| 10 L | 17.60 | 21.13 |
| 20 L | 35.20 | 42.27 |
UK pints to litres chart
One UK pint is 0.568 litres. These are the sizes printed on British milk bottles and quoted at the bar, so they are the ones worth remembering. Our guide to how many ml are in a UK pint covers fractions such as a third and two-thirds of a pint.
| UK pints | Litres | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| ½ pint | 0.284 L | A half of beer or cider |
| 1 pint | 0.568 L | Pint glass, doorstep milk bottle |
| 2 pints | 1.137 L | Supermarket milk |
| 4 pints | 2.273 L | Supermarket milk |
| 6 pints | 3.410 L | Large milk bottle |
| 8 pints (1 gallon) | 4.546 L | Gallon container |
| 72 pints (1 firkin) | 40.915 L | Cask of real ale |
Where do litres and pints meet in the UK?
Mainly in milk, beer and cider, where pint-based sizes survive alongside metric labels. The Weights and Measures Act 1985 still allows the pint as the trading unit for draught beer and cider and for milk in returnable containers. Supermarket milk is labelled in litres first, which is why a “4 pint” bottle shows an awkward-looking metric figure of about 2.27 litres.
Most other drinks, from fizzy pop to wine boxes, are sold in round metric sizes. When those are converted to pints the answers are untidy: a 1.5-litre bottle is 2.64 pints. For bigger containers such as water butts and fuel cans, gallons are often more useful; see our page on the UK gallon in litres.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Getting a US answer by accident. Search engines and phone apps often default to US pints, giving 2.11 pints per litre. The imperial vs US explainer shows why the two differ.
- Treating a litre as two pints. It is closer to 1¾. Over 10 litres the error would be 2.4 pints.
- Multiplying when you should divide. Pints are smaller than litres, so the number of pints should always be larger than the number of litres. If it is not, flip the sum.
Frequently asked questions
How many pints is 1 litre in the UK?
One litre is 1.76 UK pints. The exact figure is 1.75975, found by dividing 1,000 ml by 568.26125 ml.
How many pints are in 2 litres?
Two litres is 3.52 UK pints, or 4.23 US pints.
Is a litre bigger than a pint?
Yes. A litre is 1,000 ml and a UK pint is 568 ml, so a litre is about three-quarters bigger than a pint.
How many litres is 4 pints of milk?
Four UK pints is 2.273 litres. Supermarket bottles sold as 4 pints show a metric volume of about 2.27 litres on the label.
Why does my calculator say 2.11 pints in a litre?
It is using US pints of 473 ml. In the UK, a litre is 1.76 imperial pints of 568 ml.
Sources
- Weights and Measures Act 1985, Schedule 1 (the pint and the litre), legislation.gov.uk
- Weights and Measures Act 1985, section 8 (trade uses of the pint), legislation.gov.uk
- NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.9 (US pint conversion factor)
More Volume and Capacity guides
- How Many ml in a Tablespoon UK? 15 ml and Chart
- How Many ml in a Teaspoon UK? 5 ml Explained
- Litres to Pints UK: Converter and Printable Chart
- UK Fluid Ounce vs US Fluid Ounce: What’s the Difference?
- Imperial Gallon vs US Gallon: The Difference Explained
- UK Gallon in Litres: Converter, Chart and mpg Guide