By Rebecka Öberg and Otto Nermo
Death and taxes – on alcohol taxes as a lifesaver
An old saying holds that “there are only two certainties in life – death and taxes”. While usually intended as a joke about life’s inevitabilities, there’s an ironic truth within it in the area of alcohol policy. Alcohol taxation and deaths caused by alcohol are more interconnected than one may think. To be sure, evidence has proven a clear, negative correlation between these two certainties in life: higher alcohol taxes save lives by preventing and reducing deaths caused by alcohol. For all who are uncertain about this – and we encounter many in the world of EU alcohol policy – let us illustrate this with three examples of how raising alcohol taxes benefits societies: the most effective protector for populations at large, a guardian for particularly vulnerable groups, and a foundation for life-saving public health services.
The most effective protector for populations at large
Let’s first emphasize a principle which most can agree on: when the cost rises, individuals are less likely to purchase alcohol as frequently or in as large quantities as before. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed that increased alcohol prices through alcohol taxation is the most effective way to prevent and reduce alcohol harms, including deaths.
Another study in the American Journal of Public Health has concluded that every 1% increase in alcohol taxes could result in a 1-3% decrease in deaths due to alcohol.
Following this logic, countries that have raised alcohol taxes in evidence-informed ways have seen reductions in population-level alcohol consumption, with falling hospitalizations, and with a drop in alcohol deaths.
A guardian for particularly vulnerable groups
Not as widely known, but equally important, is that raising alcohol taxes has highly protective effects for especially vulnerable groups.
By reducing the affordability of alcohol, raising alcohol taxes effectively addresses the Big Alcohol strategy of using cheap alcohol products to get children and youth to begin consuming alcohol and to consume more if they have already started. Price matters greatly for this vulnerable group because youth are especially price-sensitive, less prone to reflect on short- and long-term negative consequences caused by alcohol, and they are more likely to engage in binge alcohol use. In this way, raising alcohol taxes helps protect children and youth from early onset of alcohol consumption and from consuming large amounts of alcohol in a short time.
This thus helps prevent and reduce fatal outcomes in these groups, such as alcohol impaired driving or alcohol poisoning.
Countries that have raised alcohol taxes, such as Finland and Sweden, have thus seen marked reductions in alcohol deaths in these groups.
A foundation for life-saving public health services
In addition to reducing population-level alcohol consumption and preventing harm in the most vulnerable groups, alcohol taxation provides an effective mechanism to increasing funding for public health initiatives aimed at preventing and treating alcohol harm.
The revenue generated from alcohol taxation can be used to strengthen primary health care and to make screening, brief intervention, and treatment programs much more available for the people and families who need them. In this way, raising alcohol taxes has the potential to help improve much needed healthcare services.
This, in turn, strengthens societal safety nets and saves lives for people suffering from illnesses caused by alcohol.
A third certainty of life?
The life-saving effects of raising alcohol taxes are so strong that they could be regarded as another certainty.
Higher alcohol taxes save lives – this link is as reliable as the fact that taxes are inevitable.
For policymakers debating alcohol policies in the future, this simple but powerful truth should serve as a guiding principle: alcohol taxes are more than just a revenue stream; they are a life-saving tool. It’s a reminder that every increase in tax could prevent another avoidable death – an invaluable certainty to rely on.
About Our Guest Expert
Rebecka Öberg
Rebecka is European Policy Officer at IOGT-NTO and leads the Brussels office.
You can follow Rebecka’s work on LinkedIn.
Otto Nermo
Otto is European Liaison Officer at IOGT-NTO’s Brussels office.
You can follow Otto’s work on LinkedIn.
