A increasing pattern can be seen in Kazakhstan as their consumption of sugary drinks grew by 50% between 2018 and 2023.
The World Bank finds it important for countries to mention that the prevalence of intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is becoming increasingly common, especially in school-aged populations. Half of Kazakh children use these products every week which correlates with the rise in health issues.
In a move to counter this, the World Bank has welcomed Kazakhstan’s plan on the sugary drink tax.
The World Bank emphasized that the tax should be well-designed. It should focus on the sugar content of a drink rather than the value and should be substantial in amount, over 20% of retail price. Of course, governments will first fear that such taxes would hurt business, but there are reasons to believe the business impacts are commonly exaggerated in most other countries.
The tax imposed is likely going to reduce sales of sugary drinks by 16% but increase sales of bottled water by 41%. Overall, the economy will still experience a relatively minimal decline of only 3% in the sale of non-alcoholic beverages.
Taxes imposed on sugary drinks will raise about 0.25% of GDP as government revenue by the third year. This is equivalent to tobacco taxes and more than the contribution of alcohol taxes at present.
As Kazakhstan has to fight this public health challenge, the implementation of a tax on sugary beverages promises a promising solution to push people into healthier lifestyles and collect revenues for priorities in development.
