To Discourage Obesity, FG Imposes N10 Per Liter Tax On Coke, Sprite, Other Carbonated Drinks

The Federal Government has imposed a N10 per liter excise duty tax on all non-alcoholic, carbonated and sweetened beverages.

The excise duty tax is one of the amendments made in the Finance Act 2022 which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31 last year.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this at the public presentation of the 2022 budget.

She said the purpose of the additional tax is to discourage the consumption of excessive sugar by Nigerians which contributes to diabetes and obesity.

The Finance Minister said the new measure is in line with the 2022 budget priorities which enables the government to introduce new sugar tax to raise revenue for health-related and other critical expenditures.

About four million Nigerians suffer from diabetes linked to excess sugar consumption.

Nigeria ranks the 4th highest soft drink consuming country globally, with over 40 million litres sold yearly.