Global alcohol taxes offer a large untapped opportunity to improve health and state finances, according to an inaugural yearly “scorecard” evaluation.
Scores for alcohol prices, tax share, and tax structures are only a third as good as they could be, an inaugural yearly evaluation found last month (see chart).
The scores for alcohol prices near zero, suggesting “alcohol is very cheap and highly affordable globally, despite the use of relatively more effective tax structures”, said the report from John Hopkins university’s Economics for Health (EH) unit and US NGO Vital Strategies.
Seen optimistically “these low rates are an incredible opportunity for governments to leverage enormous public health and fiscal benefits”, the researchers concluded. The alcohol tax scorecard in inspired by EH’s scorecard for cigarette tax, now in its fourth edition.
Wine does not appear in this year’s evaluation because of a lack of data, but the team hope to add it in future. ■