Sugary Drink Taxes Go Global, but Weak Design Blunts Their Public Health Power

A WHO-led global review finds that while over 100 countries now tax sugary drinks, most taxes are too weak, too narrow, or poorly designed to significantly reduce consumption. Stronger, broader, and better-indexed taxes are needed to curb rising sugar intake and diet-related diseases.

Around the world, governments are quietly rewriting their tax codes in the name of public health. A new Global report on the use of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, 2025, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) with analytical inputs linked to institutions such as the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and national ministries of finance, shows just how widespread this shift has become. Taxes on sugary drinks are now a mainstream policy tool, adopted across rich and poor countries alike. But the report also delivers a clear warning: while many countries have taken the first step, most are not yet using these taxes strongly or smartly enough to make a real dent in unhealthy diets.

Why Sugary Drinks Are in the Spotlight

Sugar-sweetened beverages, ranging from fizzy sodas to sweetened juices, teas, coffees and energy drinks, are a major source of “free sugars” in modern diets. They add calories without providing real nutrition and are closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and dental problems. WHO and a growing body of research argue that making these products less affordable is one of the most effective ways to reduce consumption. Well-designed taxes can also raise public revenue and help reduce health inequalities, making them a rare example of a policy that benefits both health and government budgets.

How Widely Are Countries Taxing Sugary Drinks?

The report finds that by July 2024, at least 116 countries had introduced a national excise tax on some form of sugary drink, with 114 targeting sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages in particular. These taxes now exist in every WHO region. Surprisingly, low-income countries show the highest coverage, challenging the idea that such policies are only feasible for wealthier nations. This global spread marks a major policy milestone. Yet coverage alone does not guarantee impact, and the report stresses that many of these taxes are too limited to significantly change what people buy and drink.

Design Matters More Than You Think

One of the report’s most important messages is that not all sugary drink taxes are created equal. Many countries tax sodas but exempt other sugary products such as 100% fruit juice, sweetened milk-based drinks, or ready-to-drink teas and coffees. This creates an easy escape route for consumers, who may simply switch to untaxed alternatives instead of reducing sugar intake. At the same time, nearly half of the countries that tax non-alcoholic beverages also tax unsweetened bottled water. WHO sees this as a clear policy mistake, since water is the healthiest substitute and should be encouraged, not penalized.

The way taxes are calculated also matters. Taxes based on sugar content are considered the most effective, as they directly target the harmful ingredient and encourage companies to reformulate products with less sugar. Yet only about one quarter of countries take sugar content into account at all, and very few apply a pure sugar-based tax. Most rely on simpler systems that are easier to administer but less powerful from a health perspective.

Too Small to Change Behaviour

Even where taxes exist, they are often set far too low. Using standardized global indicators, the report shows that the median excise tax accounts for just 2.4% of the retail price of a typical 330 ml sugary soda. In practical terms, this means sugary drinks remain cheap. When adjusted for purchasing power, the average excise tax amounts to only a few cents per 10 grams of sugar. Unsurprisingly, affordability trends reflect this weakness. Between 2022 and 2024, sugary drinks became less affordable in only 34 countries, while in most, they became more affordable or stayed the same. Without regular increases, especially adjustments for inflation and income growth, the real impact of taxes slowly disappears.

What Needs to Happen Next

The report’s conclusion is both sobering and hopeful. Sugary drink taxes clearly work when they are well designed and set at meaningful levels, but most countries are not yet there. Narrow tax coverage, low rates, failure to adjust for inflation and inconsistent treatment across the tax system all limit effectiveness. WHO places these findings within a broader global effort to tackle noncommunicable diseases, including its “3 by 35” initiative, which calls for a 50% real price increase on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks by 2035. The evidence is already strong. The challenge now is whether governments are willing to use it boldly.