Affordability of Alcoholic Beverages in the European Union

TY - JOUR

T1 - Affordability of Alcoholic Beverages in the European Union

AU - Kilian, Carolin

AU - Manthey, Jakob

AU - Neufeld, Maria

AU - Rehm, Jürgen

N1 - © 2022 S. Karger AG, Basel.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - BACKGROUND: From a public health perspective, alcohol taxation should be designed to reduce alcohol affordability and thus alcohol consumption and related harms.OBJECTIVES: In this brief report, we estimate alcohol affordability in European Union Member States and associated countries and investigate whether affordability is related to national alcohol excise duties.METHOD: Beverage-specific affordability for beer, wine, and spirits were estimated based on the number of standard drinks a household could purchase based on their median monthly disposable household income in 2020. To determine the pooled affordability of alcohol, the beverage-specific estimates were weighted by the share of the beverage-specific per capita consumption in total recorded consumption. Pearson and Spearman rank correlations were calculated to establish the association between alcohol affordability and alcohol excise duty rates. All data were retrieved from official sources.RESULTS: On average, a European household can purchase 1,628 standard drinks of alcohol with its monthly income, with affordability being highest in Germany, Austria, France, and Luxembourg. The affordability of spirits, but not that of beer or wine, was inversely correlated with the beverage-specific excise duty rates.CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol is affordable in the Member States of the European Union and associated countries, and low levels of excise duties on beer and wine appear to be unrelated to their affordability. Alcohol taxes should be increased to effectively reduce the affordability of alcoholic beverages in order to lower the alcohol-related health burden in Europe.

AB - BACKGROUND: From a public health perspective, alcohol taxation should be designed to reduce alcohol affordability and thus alcohol consumption and related harms.OBJECTIVES: In this brief report, we estimate alcohol affordability in European Union Member States and associated countries and investigate whether affordability is related to national alcohol excise duties.METHOD: Beverage-specific affordability for beer, wine, and spirits were estimated based on the number of standard drinks a household could purchase based on their median monthly disposable household income in 2020. To determine the pooled affordability of alcohol, the beverage-specific estimates were weighted by the share of the beverage-specific per capita consumption in total recorded consumption. Pearson and Spearman rank correlations were calculated to establish the association between alcohol affordability and alcohol excise duty rates. All data were retrieved from official sources.RESULTS: On average, a European household can purchase 1,628 standard drinks of alcohol with its monthly income, with affordability being highest in Germany, Austria, France, and Luxembourg. The affordability of spirits, but not that of beer or wine, was inversely correlated with the beverage-specific excise duty rates.CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol is affordable in the Member States of the European Union and associated countries, and low levels of excise duties on beer and wine appear to be unrelated to their affordability. Alcohol taxes should be increased to effectively reduce the affordability of alcoholic beverages in order to lower the alcohol-related health burden in Europe.

U2 - 10.1159/000527096

DO - 10.1159/000527096

M3 - Short publication

C2 - 36244336

VL - 29

SP - 63

EP - 66

JO - EUR ADDICT RES

JF - EUR ADDICT RES

SN - 1022-6877

IS - 1

ER -