Alcohol industry and governmental revenue from young Australians

Abstract

Objective. The aim of the present study was to estimate the revenues collected by government and industry from alcohol consumption by young Australians in 2010.Methods. Statistical analyses were performed on data from the Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2010 and alcohol data collected from an online retailer to calculate the proportion, frequency, quantity and revenues from alcohol consumption by young Australians.Results. One-third of adolescents (12-17 years old) and 85% of young adults (18-25 years old) consume alcohol. More than half the adolescents' alcohol consumption is from ready-to-drink spirits. Revenue generated from alcohol consumption by 12-25 year olds is estimated at $4.8 billion in 2010 (2014 Australian dollars): $2.8 billion to industry (sales) and $2.0 billion to government (taxes).Conclusions. Alcohol consumption by young Australians is prevalent, and young Australian drinkers consume alcohol in substantial amounts. The industry and taxation revenue from young drinkers is also considerable. It would be in the public interest to divert some of this revenue towards health initiatives to reduce drinking by young people, especially given the high societal costs of alcohol consumption.What is known about the topic? Australian adolescents aged 12-17 years consume substantial amounts of alcohol, and substantial amounts of revenue are generated from alcohol sales to them. What does this paper add? This paper provides recent estimates of alcohol consumption and revenue generated by Australian adolescents, and extends estimates to young adults aged 18-25 years. What are the implications for practitioners? A substantial proportion of Australian young people consume alcohol. The sales and taxation revenue generated from young people's drinking is substantial at A$4.8 billion in 2010 and is higher in real terms than estimates from previous studies. Some of the alcohol taxation revenue could be diverted to health promotion and education for young people, because the costs of alcohol consumption in terms of health outcomes and productivity losses for these age groups are expected to be especially high.

Alcohol Beverage Household Expenditure, Taxation and Government Revenues in Broader European WHO Region

“…Although, in many of these major companies net profit margin may be up to 25%. The mirror like reflection of this economic activity are revenues gained by the national governments worldwide which come from two sources: taxation on beverage manufacturers and value added tax or excise duties paid by the final consumers (Li and Si, 2016 ). An exceptionally important feature of global alcohol market is the fact that only the 38%-point share counts for branded beverages.…”

Alcohol and tax — time for real reform

“…In addition to health and social harm, the annual costs of alcohol to the economy are estimated at upwards of $15 billion 12 . Further, the government's annual revenue includes more than $200 million from underage drinkers and almost $2 billion from drinkers under the age of 25 years 13 …”