ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2020
Sweetened beverage taxes and changes in beverage price, imports and manufacturing: interrupted time series analysis in a middle-income country.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food tax policies in Pacific Island Countries and Territories: systematic policy review.Public health nutrition · 2023Pooled it
- Do tax waivers reduce prices and increase imports of healthy foods? Interrupted time-series analyses from Tonga.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Sugar, power and policy: The political economy of a health and economic 'win-win' in Fiji's sugar-sweetened beverage tax.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Factors influencing parents' food-purchasing decisions in the Pacific: a qualitative study in Tonga.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Food environments in the Pacific region and efforts to improve them: a scoping review.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of implemented global dietary interventions: a scoping review of fiscal policies.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Exploring the sugar-sweetened beverage tax (SSBT) pass-through rate in the Irish hospitality sector.BMC public health · 2024Article
- A scoping review of policies related to reducing energy drink consumption in children.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Barriers and facilitators to the introduction of import duties designed to prevent noncommunicable disease in Tonga: a case study.Globalization and health · 2021Article
- Did imports of sweetened beverages to Pacific Island countries increase between 2000 and 2015?BMC nutrition · 2021Article
- Impact of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on price, import and sale volumes in an island: interrupted time series analysis.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- Equity of expenditure changes associated with a sweetened-beverage tax in Tonga: repeated cross-sectional household surveys.BMC public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Pacific Island nation of Tonga (a middle-income country) introduced a sweetened beverage tax of T$0.50/L in 2013, with this increasing further in 2016 (to T$1.00/L), and in 2017 (T$1.50/L; US$0.02/oz). Given the potential importance of such types of fiscal intervention for preventing chronic disease, we aimed to evaluate the impact of these tax changes in Tonga.
methodsInterrupted time series analysis was used to examine monthly import volumes and quarterly price and manufacturing 1 year after each tax change, compared with a counterfactual based on existing trends. Autocorrelation was adjusted for when present, and adjustments were made for changes in GDP per capita, visitor numbers, season and T$/US$ exchange rate.
resultsIn the year after the 2013, 2016 and 2017 tax increases, the price of an indicator soft drink increased by 16.8% (95%CI: 6.3 to 29.6), 3.7% (- 0.6 to 8.3) and 17.6% (6.0 to 32.0) respectively. Imports of sweetened beverages decreased with changes of - 10.4% (- 23.6 to 9.0), - 30.3% (- 38.8 to - 20.5) and - 62.5% (- 73.1 to - 43.4) respectively. Juice imports changed by - 54.2% (- 93.2 to - 1.1), and sachet drinks by - 15.5% (- 67.8 to 88.3) after the 2017 tax increase. Tonga water bottling (T$) increased in value by 143% (69 to 334) after the 2016 tax increase and soft drink manufacturing increased by 20% (2 to 46, albeit 5% market share).
conclusionsConsistent with international evaluations of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, the taxes in Tonga were associated with increased prices, decreased taxed beverages imports, and increased locally bottled water.
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