How do alcohol policies compare across high-income countries? An index of policy strength

What is it about?

Substantial evidence identifies which alcohol policies are most effective at reducing alcohol-related harm, but until recently no practical tool existed to compare how rigorously different countries and jurisdictions actually implement those policies and track changes over time. This study used the International Alcohol Control (IAC) Policy Index to score and compare alcohol policy environments across 11 high-income jurisdictions: Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland, Lithuania, Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia. Collaborators in each jurisdiction, used an online Alcohol Policy Tool to populate data on four evidence-based policy domains covering tax and pricing, availability, marketing and drink driving. Each domain contributed a normalised stringency and impact score, with higher scores reflecting stricter policies. Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Ireland scored highest overall, with the Canadian provinces and Australia scoring lower.

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Why is it important?

Comparative cross-national alcohol policy data of this kind is essential for holding governments accountable, identifying what works in practice and building the case for policy reform. Ireland's inclusion in this study is particularly significant, as the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 positions it as a global leader in comprehensive alcohol legislation, and the IAC Policy Index provides an independent, internationally benchmarked measure of that claim. The study forms part of the IAC Study infrastructure, which is building a longitudinal, multi-country evidence base for monitoring whether alcohol policy environments change in response to political and commercial pressures over time.