Sugar Tax on Soft Drinks: “A Tiered System Based on Sugar Content Is Promising”

In an interview, TU health economist Marco Runkel explains the economic arguments in favor of a sugar tax and what is important when designing it

The federal government plans to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages starting in 2028. How sensible is such government intervention—and how would a sugar tax need to be structured to actually be effective? Prof. Dr. Marco Runkel, head of the Public Sector Economics department—with a focus on health economics—at TU Berlin, discusses this in a recent interview.

Runkel researches the conditions under which government intervention in health behavior is economically justified and how taxes on so-called “sin goods” such as sugar, alcohol, or tobacco should be structured. He sees the societal costs resulting from high sugar consumption—such as those borne by the public health insurance system—as a key argument in favor of a sugar tax.

A tax whose rate is based on the actual sugar content of a beverage is particularly promising, he says. It could not only encourage consumers to consume less sugar but also provide incentives for manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of their products. In the interview, Runkel also explains which products such a tax could cover, how social distribution effects can be taken into account, and how the revenue could be used.

Read the full interview: “A tax on soft drinks graded according to sugar content is promising”: https://www.tu.berlin/go320340/