WHO proposes higher taxes on alcohol

World Health Organization (WHO) has called all the countries to levy higher taxes on alcohol to encourage healthier behaviour across the nation states. At least 148 countries have applied excise taxes to alcoholic beverages at the national level, according to new data from the WHO.

The new data set revealed that around 2.6 million people globally die from drinking alcohol every year. The data also showed that for the most-sold brand of the most-sold spirit category, on average the excise tax is 26.5 percent. However, for the most-sold brand of beer, this average is 17.2 percent. Furthermore, wine is exempt from excise taxes in at least 22 countries, most of which are in Europe.

We can infer from the released data that countries like Lithuania increased its alcohol tax in 2017 to reduce deaths from alcohol-related diseases. It increased alcohol tax revenue from €234 million in 2016 to €323 million in 2018, with a reduction in deaths from 23.4 per 100,000 in 2016 to 18.1 per 100,000 in 2018.