On 13 January 2026 the World Health Organisation (WHO) released the Global Report on the Use of Alcohol Taxes 2025. The report looks at the taxes applied to alcoholic beverages in 2024, compares their design and measures tax levels across countries globally. The report aims to inform policy decisions on alcohol excise taxation which is seen as an effective tool to decrease the affordability of alcoholic beverages and thereby reduce alcohol consumption. The WHO notes that taxation is more effective when used together with other interventions, such as restrictions on advertising or smoking that limit alcohol availability and marketing.
The report gives some background on alcohol consumption and the risks to health. It notes the importance of assessing the use of alcohol excise taxes as a policy tool. The report notes that as at July 2024, at least 167 countries were applying excise taxes to alcoholic beverages at the national level and another 12 countries had banned the use of alcoholic beverages. However, the report noted that wine was exempted from excise taxes in more than 25 countries, particularly in Europe, and this was contrary to WHO recommendations.
The report looks at the design of alcohol excise taxes across countries, noting that volume-based specific excise tax is most used in relation to beer and wine, while alcohol-content-based specific excise tax systems are mostly used for spirits. The countries that apply alcohol excise tax base the duty on alcohol content for beer and for spirits, through a specific excise or by tiered excise rates based on alcohol by volume (ABV). Only a small proportion of countries applying specific excise tax systems provide for regular automatic adjustment of tax rates. This means that in most countries, alcohol taxes may lose their real value over time, eroded by inflation.
The WHO considers that excise tax levels are still too low in many countries. The report notes that between 2022 and 2024, beer became less affordable in only 31% of countries, and spirits became less affordable in 22% of countries. To ensure that alcohol becomes less affordable over time, countries must regularly review and adjust tax policies.
The report also looks at revenue earmarking from alcohol excise taxes. Only 28 of the 146 countries with alcohol excise duty earmarked the tax revenue for health programmes in the period under review. These health programmes included universal health coverage, the control of noncommunicable diseases, measures for alcohol control and the promotion of physical activity.
The WTO notes that the protection of health should be a key consideration in designing alcohol taxes. Other objectives such as revenue raising are also important, but health goals should be in the forefront. The WHO considers that alcohol excise taxes are still underutilized and little progress has been made since the previous report in 2022. To make alcoholic drinks less affordable, countries should improve the design of the taxes and regularly review and increase them.
