New World Health Organization Report
The new report entitled “Global report on the use of alcohol taxes 2025” provides an assessment of taxes applied to alcoholic beverages at the global level. It qualitatively compares their design and provides estimates of standardized metrics to compare tax levels between countries. This new report is the second in a series since first publication in 2023 that Movendi International also reported on.
The WHO assessment of alcohol taxes worldwide is based on a new database compiled by WHO, which provides standardized indicators of price and tax level for beer and spirits and information on tax policy for beer, spirits and wine.
The findings are based on an analysis of prices and tax levels for beer and spirits in more than 150 countries in 2024, alongside a review of tax policies in around 180 countries. The WHO also compared the 2024 data with figures from 2022 to track changes over time.
The reports warn that weak tax systems are allowing harmful products such as sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages to remain cheap while health systems face mounting financial pressure from preventable noncommunicable diseases and injuries.
The Urgent Case for Raising Alcohol Taxes
WHO data shows that alcoholic beverages are getting cheaper, due to consistently low tax rates in most countries, fueling heart disease, cancers and injuries. The World Health Organization is therefore calling on governments to significantly strengthen taxes on alcoholic beverages.
Health taxes are one of the strongest tools we have for promoting health and preventing disease,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
By increasing taxes on products like tobacco, sugary drinks, and alcohol, governments can reduce consumption and unlock funds for vital health services.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO
At least 167 countries levy taxes on alcoholic beverages, while 12 ban alcohol entirely.
Despite this, alcohol has become more affordable or remained unchanged in price in most countries since 2022, as taxes fail to keep pace with inflation and income growth. Wine remains untaxed in at least 25 countries, mostly in Europe, despite clear health risks.
Fewer than one in four countries with alcohol taxes routinely update their tax rates, so inflation erodes their impact and makes alcohol cheaper over time.
More affordable alcohol drives violence, injuries and disease,” highlighted Dr Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, as per WHO’s news release.
While industry profits, the public often carries the health consequences and society the economic costs.”
Dr Etienne Krug, Director, Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention, WHO
WHO found that across regions:
- Tax shares on alcohol remain low with global excise share medians of 14% for beer and 22.5% for spirits;
- Globally, a typical 330-millilitre (ml) beer costs $2.47(€2.10), and only $0.52 (€0.44) of this amount is taxed.
- A 750 ml bottle of spirits costs on average $22.67 (€ 19.28), with $6.44 (€5.48) being taxed.
- Few countries adjust alcohol taxes for inflation, allowing health-harming products such as alcohol to become steadily more affordable.
Only 28 countries earmark the revenue from alcohol taxes for prevention and treatment, such as alcohol policy initiatives, public health campaigns, or healthcare system funding.
WHO is calling on countries to raise and redesign taxes as part of its new 3 by 35 initiative, where Movendi International is a partner. The 3×35 initiative aims to increase the real prices of three products, tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks, by 2035 making them less affordable over time to help protect people’s health. With the initiative WHO and partners aim to provide support to countries to raise the prices of sugary drinks, alcohol, and tobacco by 50% over the next 10 years through taxation. WHO expects the tax initiative to raise $1 trillion by 2035, based on evidence from health taxes in countries such as Colombia and South Africa.
Why it matters: the negative health impacts of alcohol
The products and practices of the alcohol industry cause a range negative health and social impacts. They are:
- Increasing risks for maternal and child health,
- Exposure to communicable and noncommunicable diseases,
- Damage to mental health, and
- Increasing the likelihood of injury.
Alcohol consumption is one of the leading worldwide risks factors for over 200 health conditions, such as cancer, and many mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and alcohol-use disorders. Over 2.6 million people die from alcohol-related conditions every year, the WHO said, as per Euronews reporting.
Raising taxes on harmful products leads to a reduction in population-level consumption of such products, which lowers harms and costs in this population.
Raising taxes in harmful products also leads to raising money for governments at a time when development aid is shrinking and public debt is rising.
[Alcohol] taxes attract opposition from powerful industries with deep pockets and a lot to lose, but many countries have shown that when they’re done right, they’re a powerful tool for health,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, as per Reuters reporting.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO
Why it matters: broad public support for raising alcohol taxes
These trends in alcohol taxation persist despite broad and high public support for raising alcohol taxes. In a special report, Movendi International has compiled available data on public opinion about government action to raise alcohol taxes.
A 2022 Gallup Poll showed that the majority of people surveyed support raising taxes on alcohol.
Overall, 69% of respondents support higher alcohol taxes. That is higher support than for raising tobacco taxes.
For each country the support was high:
- Colombia: 63%,
- India: 66%,
- Jordan: 92%,
- Tanzania: 75%, and
- USA: 54%.
Polling results from the RESET Alcohol Initiative also show that people support raising alcohol taxes. In 2024, Vital Strategies together with local partners of the RESET Alcohol Initiative completed a survey of more than 6,000 residents spanning five partner countries on people’s attitudes about alcohol harms and alcohol policy solutions.
The results are striking: People are gravely concerned about alcohol harm. And people desire alcohol policy change. They want their governments to take alcohol policy action and to hold the alcohol industry accountable for the harms alcohol is causing.
Statement by Kristina Šperková, International President of Movendi International
Kristina Šperková, International President of Movendi International welcomed the new WHO Global Report on the Use of Alcohol Taxes 2025 and commented on the findings:
This new WHO report confirms what people and communities affected by alcohol harms experience: ultra cheap alcohol fuels serious harms. We know that the majority of the people is gravely concerned about alcohol, wants government action, and supports raising alcohol taxes.
The evidence of the potential of raising alcohol taxes is clear, consistent, and compelling. Well-designed alcohol excise taxes prevent alcohol harm, reduce costs, advance fairness and justice, and generate public revenue that can be reinvested in health, education, and development. Alcohol taxation is a quadruple-win solution for health, social justice, public finances, and sustainable development.
We welcome the clarity of WHO’s findings. The report shows that many countries already implement alcohol taxation, but most of the time these tax systems benefit alcohol industry profit interests instead of people’s health and the common good.
Too often alcohol taxes are set too low, designed poorly, and allowed to erode over time. As a result, alcohol affordability remains too high, alcohol industry profit maximisation dominates pricing setting, and preventable harm continues. This is a political choice.
This report should give policymakers confidence to act in the public interest. People’s support for effective alcohol tax policy is high. The benefits are immediate and long-lasting. Prioritising alcohol taxation is an investment in healthier people, fairer societies, and stronger economies.
Movendi International stands ready to work with governments, civil society, and international partners to turn this evidence into action. The path forward is clear. Raising alcohol taxes puts countries more on track to achieve multiple SDGs – especially when alcohol tax revenue is reinvested in pro-social and pro-health programs, services, and actions.”
Kristina Šperková, International President, Movendi International
WHO Director-General Remarks at Recent Media Briefing
On January 13, 2026, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke about the need for countries to raise alcohol taxes in WHO’s first media briefing of 2026. The main points Dr Tedros raised were:
- Health taxes are a cornerstone of sustainable development and health system financing. In WHO’s first media briefing of 2026, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized alcohol taxation as a key tool to help countries transition from aid dependency to domestic, sustainable self-reliance, alongside tobacco and sugary drink taxes.
- Alcohol taxes deliver a dual public benefit. They reduce alcohol consumption and prevent disease while generating reliable public revenue that governments can reinvest in health, education, and social protection.
- Most countries are underusing this tool. New WHO reports on alcohol and sugary drink taxation show that taxes are generally too low, poorly designed, rarely adjusted, and insufficiently aligned with public health objectives – making alcohol more affordable over time despite rising health and social costs.
- Well-designed tax reforms save lives and expand equity. Evidence from multiple countries shows substantial gains: the Philippines expanded health insurance to over 15 million poor families; Lithuania saw a nearly 5% reduction in all-cause mortality after an alcohol tax increase.
- Momentum is growing despite industry opposition. While health taxes face political resistance from powerful commercial interests, many governments are moving forward. In the past year alone, several countries – including Malaysia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam – have strengthened pro-health taxes, with further action already taken in 2026.
- WHO’s 3 by 35 initiative sets a clear direction. Launched in 2025, it aims to support all countries in raising real prices of tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks by 2035, reinforcing health taxes as a proven, scalable, and equitable policy instrument.
Dr Tedros’ key message: Alcohol taxation is no longer a peripheral policy option – it is a proven, evidence-based public policy solution for promoting health, financing public goods, and strengthening national sovereignty over development pathways.
The full statement:
WHO is supporting countries to maintain essential health services in the short term, while mobilising domestic resources to make the long-term transition from aid dependency to sustainable self-reliance. One of the best tools for doing that is health taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks.
Health taxes have been shown to reduce consumption of these harmful products, helping to prevent disease and reduce the burden on health systems. At the same time, they generate an income stream that governments can use to invest in health, education and social protection.
However, health taxes are not a matter of “set it and forget it”. To be effective, they must be designed carefully and adjusted regularly.
Since 2008, WHO has published regular data on tobacco taxation in our biennial report on the global tobacco epidemic. Today we are publishing new reports on taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks. They show that in most countries, these taxes are too low to be effective, poorly designed, not adjusted regularly, and rarely aligned with public health objectives.
As a result, alcohol and sugary drinks have become more affordable, even as the diseases and injuries associated with their consumption continue to place growing strain on health systems, families and budgets.
Health taxes […] attract opposition from powerful industries with deep pockets and a lot to lose.
But many countries have shown that when they are done right, they are a powerful tool for health.
For example, […] in Lithuania, a major tax increase on alcohol in 2017 was associated with an almost 5% reduction in all-cause mortality the following year.
[…]
Many more countries are following the example these countries are setting.
Last year alone, Malaysia, Mauritius, Slovakia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam were among countries that introduced or increased taxes on tobacco, alcohol or sugary drinks, or all three.
[…]
WHO looks forward to supporting more countries to design and implement health taxes to protect health and to transition away from aid dependency towards sustainable self-reliance.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO
A High Return on Public Investment in Alcohol Taxation
In May 2025, Movendi International reported about a landmark study revealing the positive impact of the alcohol tax increases in Lithuania.
The landmark study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) confirmed that Lithuania’s 2017 alcohol excise tax increase delivered significant health improvements as well as economic benefits. Published in the journal Addiction and co-led by Dr. Jürgen Rehm of CAMH and Dr. Mindaugas Štelemėkas of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, the study presents compelling evidence that raising alcohol taxes boosts population health and national economies.
One of the clearest global examples of an alcohol policy that delivers both improved health and compelling economic returns.”
Dr. Jürgen Rehm, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Lithuania’s tax policy raised alcohol excise taxes by 112% for beer, 111% for wine, and 23% for spirits. This led to retail price increases of 26% for beer, 7% for wine, and 6% for spirits.
This increase of the alcohol tax and price made alcohol products less affordable and impressive benefits:
- The policy generated over €100 million in new tax revenue within one year, a 20% increase.
- At the same time, Lithuania saw lower rates of premature death caused by alcohol, saving approximately €35.3 million in productivity losses.
- Healthcare costs dropped by another €3.8 million.
Importantly, it cost the government only €320,000 to implement the policy.
According to CAMH, for every €1 invested in implementing these taxes, the country gained €420 in economic returns.
With no rise in illegal alcohol use, the policy showcases how raising alcohol excise taxes can prevent and reduce harm, improve public finances, and narrow health inequities.
Experts urge other countries to follow Lithuania’s lead to protect health and strengthen economies.