An expert has proposed imposing a tiered "sugar levy" on sweetened beverages such as sodas based on their sugar content.
Park Eun-cheol, a professor at Yonsei University's Institute of Health Policy and Management, presented a three-tier taxation plan in a paper titled "Plan for Introducing a Sugar Levy on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages." The paper was distributed ahead of a policy forum on sugar levies jointly hosted by the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) and the Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF) on Wednesday.
Under the proposal, beverages containing 5 grams or more but less than 8 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters would be taxed at 225 won per liter. Products with 8 grams or more would face a levy of 300 won per liter. Beverages with less than 5 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters would be exempt.
The structure mirrors the United Kingdom's Soft Drinks Industry Levy, introduced in 2018. The UK system imposes levies on manufacturers and importers of all non-alcoholic beverages with added sugar, liquid fructose or syrup, including sodas, fruit-flavored drinks and energy drinks. After the levy took effect, per-capita sugar intake from sweetened beverages fell sharply from 15.5 grams to 10.8 grams.
Based on the UK's first-year revenue, Park estimated that a similar system in Korea would generate approximately 227.6 billion won ($168 million) in annual revenue. The funds could be used for children's and adolescents' health promotion, public dietary campaigns, and research on obesity and chronic diseases, he said.
The daily sugar supply per capita in Korea stands at 140 grams, 2.8 to 5.6 times the recommended level, and is rising by 2.2 grams each year. Obesity and overweight rates among Korean children and adolescents are increasing rapidly, with boys more severely affected than girls. The age group consuming the most sugar from sweetened beverages is 10 to 18 years old.
