Germany's potential billions in savings and health gains with sugar-sweetened beverage tax (2024)

FAQs

Germany's potential billions in savings and health gains with sugar-sweetened beverage tax? ›

Taxation of SSBs in Germany could prevent or postpone 132,100 to 244,100 cases of type 2 diabetes, gain 106,000 to 192,300 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and save €10.8 to €16.0 billion in societal cost from 2023 to 2043 with the highest impacts estimated for tiered taxation.

Reduces the rates of costly and preventable chronic diseases. Increases awareness about the harmful effects of sugary drinks. Discourages consumption of sugary drinks by raising their prices.

Taxes on drink volume or sales are less efficient because they do not reflect the wide variation in sugar content among sweetened beverages. For a given level of overall taxation, taxes on volume or price do too little to discourage consumption of high-sugar drinks and too much to discourage relatively low-sugar ones.

Taxing sugar levels in soda could prevent 2 million US cases of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, study says. Cities, states and nations have been turning to sugar taxes as a potential way to improve public health in their communities, but the jury has been out on how best to implement the fine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends taxes on sugary soft drinks (SSBs) to reduce cardiometabolic disorders by increasing costs or by industry reforms to reduce sugar content. However, Germany has no SSB tax and is preparing a new strategy for food policy until 2050.

The tax is projected to decrease sugary drink consumption among California residents, prevent nearly 200,000 cases of obesity, and save more than 1.8 billion dollars in health care costs. People who consume sugary drinks are expected to spend less on these drinks with the tax in place.

A new study shows taxes on sugary beverages like soda reduce demand and are likely to improve public health. Soda is the No. 1 source of added sugar in the American diet.

Soda tax opponents usually cite regressivity as the major reason for their disapproval. Regressive taxes take a larger percentage of income from low-income taxpayers than from high-income taxpayers. Because lower income households spend a higher portion of their income on soda, they pay disproportionally more taxes.

Frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout, a type of arthritis.

Sugar sweetened beverages are associated with obesity and many related health risks such as type 2 diabetes. New research also suggests that consuming sugar sweetened beverages also amplifies the genetic risk of obesity.

Does sugar clog arteries? ›

When you consume excess sugar, the extra calories are stored as triglycerides, and high levels of triglycerides are a major risk factor for heart disease. LDL cholesterol. Foods high in sugar have been linked to high levels of “bad” cholesterol, which is known to clog the arteries that supply oxygen to the heart.

Five U.S. cities which imposed taxes on sugary drinks saw prices rise and sales fall by 33%, according to a new study. Sales of sugary drinks fell dramatically across five U.S. cities, after they implemented taxes targeting those drinks – and those changes were sustained over time.

So why have these taxes been so ineffective? First, it is often assumed that taxes will all be passed on to consumers. This rarely happens. Companies will absorb taxes if passing them along would result in sales decreases that lead to greater financial losses.

They are the government's most important source of revenue, which is used to fund spending for the common good – such as social security, education, healthcare and transport infrastructure. The German tax system is based on ability to pay, transparency and fairness.

Germany: $4.85 billion

In 2023, Germany imports the most sugar from Belgium accounting for $515.91 million.

In Germany, the average single worker faced a net average tax rate of 37.4% in 2023, compared with the OECD average of 24.9%. In other words, in Germany the take-home pay of an average single worker, after tax and benefits, was 62.6% of their gross wage, compared with the OECD average of 75.1%.

Additionally, drinking sugary beverages is associated with developing kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and gout, a type of arthritis. Cutting back on sugary drinks can reduce your risk of developing these chronic diseases and help you lead a healthier life.

Results: Our results indicate that in the adult population an ad valorem tax of 20% would lead to a reduction in decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) by 3.9 million units over 10 years, resulting in cost savings of A$666 million.

Research shows that taxing alcohol and SSBs helps cut down use of these products and gives companies a reason to make healthier products. While at the same time tax on these products help prevent injuries and noncommunicable diseases such as cancers, diabetes and heart diseases.

A new analysis led by a researcher from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggests taxing sweetened beverages by the amount of sugar they contain rather than by liquid volume, as some cities currently do.