Weak and poorly planned tax structures are making sugar-sweetened beverages and alcohol increasingly affordable worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday, raising alarms over rising risks of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and injuries—particularly among children and young people.
In two global reports released on Tuesday, WHO urged governments to significantly raise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages and alcoholic products and to restructure tax systems. The organization said that weak tax frameworks allow harmful products to remain affordable, while preventable non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injury-related problems continue to strain public health systems financially.
“One of the strongest tools we have for protecting public health and preventing disease is the health tax,’” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “By increasing taxes on products like tobacco, sugar-sweetened beverages, and alcohol, governments can both reduce consumption of harmful products and generate resources for critical areas like public health.”
Despite billions of dollars in profits from sugar-sweetened beverages and alcohol globally, WHO noted that governments capture only a small fraction of this through health-focused taxes, leaving societies to bear the long-term health and economic burdens.
WHO’s report found that at least 116 countries currently impose special production taxes (excise taxes) on sugar-sweetened beverages. Most countries tax carbonated soft drinks (98%), energy and sports drinks (97%), and sugar-sweetened non-carbonated drinks (94%), but coverage drops sharply for other related products.
About half of countries tax prepared tea or coffee, less than two-thirds tax syrup or concentrates, and roughly 46% impose excise taxes on 100% fruit juice. Sugar-sweetened dairy and plant-based alternative beverages are most often untaxed.
Even where taxes exist, the average tax on a retail soda is just 2%—far too low to curb consumption, WHO said. Few countries adjust taxes for inflation, leaving sugary beverages increasingly affordable over time.
A separate WHO report on alcohol taxation showed that at least 167 countries tax alcoholic beverages, while 12 countries prohibit them entirely. Still, since 2022, alcohol has become cheaper or remained the same price in most countries, as tax rates have not kept pace with inflation and rising incomes.
Taxation also varies by type: beer and spirits are often taxed, while wine frequently remains untaxed. Globally, 14% of beer and 22.5% of spirits are taxed, but at least 25 countries levy no taxes on wine.
“Easily available alcohol drives violence, accidents, and disease,” said Dr Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Health Determinants, Promotion, and Prevention Department. “While companies profit, ordinary people pay the health and economic costs, which fall on society as a whole.”
Bangladesh ranks among the top six countries in the world for controlling sugar-sweetened beverages. WHO’s report noted that although Bangladesh taxes all types of sugar-sweetened beverages, it uniquely exempts regular bottled drinks from tax.
Bangladesh, alongside Barbados, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Niger, and Togo, has been praised for closing policy loopholes. The country taxes carbonated and non-carbonated sugary drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks, syrups and concentrates, prepared tea and coffee, and sugar-sweetened dairy drinks.
Many countries leave fruit juices and dairy beverages untaxed, allowing consumers to choose harmful alternatives and weakening public health impacts. Bangladesh has largely overcome these limitations through broad product coverage.
However, due to insufficient pricing and tax data, Bangladesh did not appear in the global beer and spirits taxation rankings. WHO warned that without regular inflation adjustments, the effectiveness of health taxes in Bangladesh is gradually diminishing.
The NCD Alliance, in response to WHO’s report, emphasized that health taxes are indispensable for protecting public health and preventing disease. Alison Cox, the organization’s Policy and Advocacy Director, said: “Health taxes achieve three major goals—improving public health, strengthening government finances, and reducing the future economic burden of diseases.”
Cox noted that tobacco and beverage industry influence created obstacles for health taxes in the 2025 UN declaration. “Arguments about sovereignty are really just excuses. In reality, implementing health taxes increases domestic revenue and reduces reliance on foreign sources, strengthening a country’s sovereignty,” she said.
WHO has launched the "3 by 35" program to raise the prices of tobacco, alcohol, and soft drinks by 2035, aiming to reduce affordability of harmful products and control NCDs and injury risks.
At a virtual press conference chaired by Dr Tedros on Tuesday, WHO presented these findings and also reported on progress in cervical cancer prevention and elimination in line with Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.
WHO concluded by urging governments to implement health taxes effectively. “These taxes reduce harmful behaviors while easing pressure on the health sector, paving the way for sustainable development,” the organization said, calling on leaders to translate evidence into policy.
