PH has lowest excise tax on fizzy drinks among SEA peers – DOF exec

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has the lowest excise tax on carbonated drinks in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region, Finance Undersecretary Karlo Fermin Adriano said on Monday.

At a congressional hearing, Adriano said the country’s tax burden on fizzy beverages was 5.13 percent from the current P6-per-liter levy, compared with 11.21 percent in Thailand, 13 percent in Malaysia and 16 percent in Brunei.

“The excise tax burden, it’s relatively low and has been eroded over time because there is no indexation for the excise tax,” he told lawmakers.

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Sugary drinks are taxed at a flat P6 or P12, depending on the type of sweeteners used, without yearly increases. 

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Adriano said the P6 tax on caloric sugary drinks is now equivalent to about P4 due to inflation, with the P12 tax on high-fructose corn syrup beverages roughly translating to about P8.5 per liter since the levy was implemented in 2018.

READ: Gov’t told: Sugary drink tax hike must be science-based

And he said the low tax rate is keeping sweetened drinks widely available, fueling higher consumption among Filipinos.

“The consumption, or volume of sales of SB is now greater than in 2018 when we first implemented the tax,” Adriano said. Filipinos consumed about 6.3 billion liters last year and 5.8 billion liters in 2024, from 5.3 billion liters in 2018.

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“The more affordable the SB, the higher the prevalence of obesity,” he added.

Health Undersecretary Albert Domingo said obesity has trended upward over the past decades, with more than four in 10 Filipinos considered overweight last year.

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“In 1993, 16.6 percent of Filipinos were adults who were overweight and obese,” he told lawmakers. “In 2023, it was 38.6 percent, and in 2025, it’s higher at 43.1 percent.”

More children aged five to 10 years old were also considered obese in recent years, he added.

“In our data since 2003, it ranged around 5 percent and it increased to around 16 percent in 2025,” said Domingo.

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Lawmakers have pitched proposals to hike the excise tax on sugary drinks, with updated rates for beverages sweetened with caloric or noncaloric sweeteners ranging from P9 to P20 per liter from the current P6, and to charge up to P40 per liter from P12 for beverages containing high-fructose corn syrup. /jpv