The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for more taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol as part of a campaign to promote health and save lives around the globe. Two new reports released by WHO on 13 January 2026, warn that “weak tax systems are allowing harmful products to remain cheap while health systems face mounting financial pressure from preventable noncommunicable diseases and injuries,” a WHO press release said.
“Health taxes are one of the strongest tools we have for promoting health and preventing disease,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “By increasing taxes on products like tobacco, sugary drinks, and alcohol, governments can reduce harmful consumption and unlock funds for vital health services.”
At least 116 countries tax sugary drinks, such as sodas, but fail to tax other high-sugar products, such as 100% fruit juices, sweetened milk drinks, and ready-to-drink coffees and teas, the WHO points out. While 97% of countries tax energy drinks, this figure has not changed since the last global report in 2023.
When it comes to alcohol, at least 167 countries around the world tax alcoholic beverages and 12 ban alcohol entirely, yet alcohol has become more affordable or has been static in price in most countries since 2022, the WHO notes. Taxes have failed to keep up with inflation and income growth, and wine remains untaxed in at least 25 mostly European countries, despite what the WHO calls “clear health risks.” These include cancer, mental health and behavioural issues, including depression and domestic abuse. More than 2.6 million annual deaths around the world can be attributed to alcohol-related problems, the WHO says.
“More affordable alcohol drives violence, injuries and disease,” highlighted Dr Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department of Health Determinants, Promotion and Prevention. While industry profits, the public often carries the health consequences and society the economic costs.”
Soft drinks industry questions effectiveness of taxes
Reacting to the WHO’s renewed call for higher taxes, the beverage industry has pushed back against what it describes as an overreliance on taxation without sufficient evidence of health benefits. Nicholas Hodac, Director-General of UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe, told Travel Tomorrow that the industry shares the objective of improving public health but questions whether taxes are the right tool to achieve it.
“We share the goal of accelerating progress to reduce non-communicable diseases and believe that governments should focus on cost-effective actions backed by strong evidence,” Hodac said.
He criticised the WHO for downplaying what he described as proven sugar-reduction measures such as reformulation and smaller portion sizes, while promoting what he called unproven claims around taxation. “More than a decade of global evidence shows beverage taxes have not reduced obesity or improved health outcomes. The WHO itself has repeatedly concluded that such taxes are not ‘Best Buy’ policies, meaning taxation is not among the most effective measures to address these complex issues.”
According to UNESDA, taxes risk making everyday life more expensive for consumers without helping them achieve more balanced diets.
WHO urges governments to act
Despite industry opposition, the WHO maintains that governments are missing out on significant revenue while continuing to shoulder the health and societal costs linked to sugar and alcohol consumption. The combined global market for sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages generates billions of dollars in profit, the organisation said, while public spending on healthcare continues to rise.
Good news:
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 13, 2026
Strong health taxes are one of the fastest, most cost-effective, and highest-ROI policies available.
Design them well → affordability falls → health improves.
WHO can support: https://t.co/sQJ8sfVzO6 pic.twitter.com/HsDJcHVSHv
WHO found that across regions:
- tax shares on alcohol remain low, with global excise share averaging 14% for beer and 22.5% for spirits;
- sugary drink taxes are “weak and poorly targeted” and tax only accounts for about two percent of the price of a soda, “often applying only to a subset of beverages, missing large parts of the market”; and
- few countries adjust taxes for inflation, allowing health-harming products to become steadily more affordable.
These trends in tax persist, WHO says, despite a 2022 opinion survey by Gallup finding that a majority of respondents support higher taxes on alcohol and sugary beverages. While WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged that taxation can be a politically unpopular tool that also attracts “opposition from powerful industries with deep pockets and a lot to lose,” he also told reporters that “done right, they are a powerful tool for health,” pointing to policies in the Philippines, Britain, and Lithuania.
WHO is urging countries to raise and redesign taxes as part of its new so-called “3 by 35 initiative,” which aims to increase the real prices of three products, tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks, by 203,5 making them less affordable over time to help protect people’s health.
