New Zealand’s beer tax sees massive increase

New Zealand | From 1 July, the price of a pint of beer and a glass of wine is set to rise, following a 6.65 percent hike to the alcohol excise tax. It comes after a record 6.92 percent increase in 2022. The decision, made on 2 June, will cost New Zealanders an extra NZD 86 million (USD 53 million) per year, including NZD 28.9 million (USD 18 million) for beer drinkers.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the increase is in line with the process that has been in place since the early 1990s, whereby an increase is dictated by the rise in inflation.

But Dylan Firth, Executive Director of the Brewers Association of New Zealand, said: “The beer excise increase could not come at a worse time for brewers and consumers. With Kiwis facing a cost-of-living crisis, more tax is the last thing anyone needs.” The tax hike means that when punters next buy a 12-pack of beer, 50 percent of the price will be made up of tax - through excise and goods and services tax.

While many breweries will try and absorb the extra costs, they say it is inevitable some of the costs will be passed on to consumers.

There are some 200 breweries in New Zealand, with Lion (owned by Kirin) and DB Breweries (owned by Heineken) dominating domestic beer production, which has hovered around the annual mark of 2.9 million hl for the past few years, according to the BarthHaas Report.