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Global Health Observatory
Table
Indicator name:
Beverage affordability: beverage has become less affordable since last survey
Short name:
Beverage has become less affordable since last survey
Rationale:
Identifying the level of affordability of beverages and their change over the years is important to see how this affects consumption of those beverages.
Definition:
With economic growth but without action from government to increase prices, harmful and unhealthy beverages such as alcoholic and sugar-sweetened beverages risk becoming ever-more affordable, including to young people with lower disposable incomes. Global evidence shows that affordability is linked to beverage consumption, and that a decrease in affordability will result in lower consumption.
Disaggregation:
Beer

Spirits

Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages

Method of estimation:
Beer: the affordability indicator was calculated by dividing the price of 40 litres of the most-sold brand of beer by GDP per capita for 2022 and 2024.

Spirits: the affordability indicator was calculated by dividing the price of 5 litres of the most-sold brand of the most-sold type of spirits by GDP per capita for 2022 and 2024.

Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage: the affordability indicator was calculated by dividing the price of 50 litres of the internationally comparable brand of sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage by GDP per capita for 2022 and 2024.

GDP data in local currency units were sourced from IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) while population data (for the per capita calculations for age 15-plus for alcoholic beverages and total population for Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage) were sourced from the United Nations (UN) World Population Prospects for 2024.

Change in affordability (positive change means reduction in affordability, negative change means increase in affordability) was assessed by comparing the relative change in the affordability indicator between 2022 and 2024 with a margin of 10% change to account for some significance in affordability change in the short period of 2022-2024 (10% identified as the most frequent range of relative change in the indicator between the two years among countries covered). This means that affordability has been considered to have gone down only in countries where the relative change in the indicator was more than 10% while relative change between 0% and 10% is considered indicating no change in affordability.

Expected frequency of data dissemination:
Biennial
Expected frequency of data collection:
Biennial
Contact person email:
perucica@who.int
Name:
Anne-Marie Perucic
IMRID:
7026
Limitations:
The indicator is based on the price of one brand, the most commonly available in the market, which is not representative of the whole market.
Indicator Metadata Registry List
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