The Road to the Alcohol Act 2018 in Finland: A conflict between public health objectives and neoliberal goals

Abstract

Finnish alcohol policy has aimed for decades years to mitigate alcohol-related harm by using high taxation and restrictions on the physical availability of alcohol. The state monopoly on the retail of alcohol has played a central role in reducing the availability of alcohol. In 2011, preparations began for a comprehensive reform of the Alcohol Act 1994. Over time, the issue became highly politicised, lobbied and divisive. It took intense work of two consecutive governments to finalise the reform. The new Alcohol Act came into force in 2018. It expanded the rights of grocery stores to sell alcohol and reduced the administrative burden for on-premise sales. As a result, the state monopoly on the retail of alcohol was weakened, but it still has an important impact on the physical availability of alcohol. The Finnish public health community expected an increase in alcohol sales following the reform because of greater alcohol availability and expected price reductions related to greater competition of sales in grocery stores. However, prices decreased less than expected in 2018, partly due to a simultaneous increase in alcohol taxes. It is difficult to evaluate the impact of the reform at this early stage. However, after the reform, the 10-year (2008–2017) downward trend in the total per capita alcohol consumption was discontinued despite the tax increase. According to preliminary analyses, the change in the law may have slightly increased recorded alcohol sales but the effect was not statistically significant.