Evidence to inform effective alcohol pricing policies in the European Union

Aim To map current alcohol pricing policies across the European Union and United Kingdom and review the latest evidence on their effectiveness Design Current policies were mapped using publicly available data. Evidence was systematically reviewed using a three-stage approach: a) a systematic search for published studies in PubMed and Google Scholar, b) a snowball search of grey literature and hand-searching the references of existing reviews and c) consultation with topic experts. Setting Any appraisal or evaluation on the impact of an alcohol pricing policy in an EU or UK nation that reported alcohol consumption or health outcomes. Participants The general population Measurements Any reported measures of alcohol consumption or alcohol-related health outcomes. Findings The mapping exercise found that there is substantial variation in both the levels and structures of alcohol taxation across Europe. The review found 83 studies, consisting of 34 prospective modelling studies and 49 retrospective evaluations. These came primarily from the UK and Scandinavia. The majority of studies looked at the impact of changes to alcohol taxation, although a substantial minority looked at the impacts of Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol. Studies consistently fond that increases in taxation, or the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing, have led to reductions in alcohol consumption and improvements in public health and, in spite of concerns about cross-border sales moderating these benefits, there is little evidence to support these concerns in practice. Conclusion There is ample evidence to show that alcohol pricing policies can and have worked across Europe and are likely to form a key part of any effective policy approach to reduce alcohol-related harm.