No place for cheap alcohol: the potential value of minimum pricing for protecting lives

Overview 

The WHO European Region has some of the highest levels of alcohol consumption and corresponding rates of alcohol-related harm in the world. Pricing policies and taxation are among the most effective measures that policy-makers can use to address these harms, but they remain underutilized across the Region. 

There has been growing interest in recent years in a relatively new form of pricing policy to decrease alcohol affordability and consequently consumption – minimum pricing. This report discusses this (as yet) not widely used policy and its potential for improving public health and examines how minimum pricing policies should be applied alongside alcohol taxation measures.

It reviews the status of implementation of minimum pricing globally, provides an overview of the most recent evidence behind the policy, addresses its main strengths and limitations and offers practical considerations for countries.