Alcohol Use in Montenegro

This Policy Brief was written by Institute for Socio-Economic Analysis (ISEA) in Montenegro. The policy brief discusses the prevalence of alcohol use and related regulations and alcohol control policies including the alcohol tax system. The prevalence of alcohol use is very high and similar for both men and women, as well as for young men and young women. Men, however, consume significantly more alcohol than women, 17 liters compared to 4.3 liters per year, respectively. The researchers also assess the impact of raising the price of alcoholic beverages using excise taxes on demand and revenues. This total own-price elasticity is significant for spirits, but not other alcohol beverage types, although this may be a function of the available data. Specifically, a 10% increase in the price of spirits would decrease demand by 8.84%. If the excise tax on spirits increases per the excise calendar, from 12.5 to 15 euros per liter, the price would increase by 7% while consumption would decrease by 5.08%. Tax revenues, on the other hand, would increase by 9.36%. The brief concludes with recommendations for policy makers to raise excise taxes on alcohol and strengthen other alcohol control policies to reduce alcohol-related harms. 

Two related Reports can be found here and here.