Economic Costs by Alcohol in Mexico

This Policy Note was written by Economics for Health. The policy note assesses the economic costs of alcohol consumption in Mexico. The findings show that total costs associated with alcohol amount to 2.1% of the GDP, or MXN 552.2 billion. This includes MXN 368.1 billion in indirect costs, which reflect productivity losses, as well as MXN 184.1 billion in direct costs, which reflect health care costs. These are conservative estimates as they do not include the indirect costs of caregiving and existing research on direct costs of every alcohol-related illness is limited. Still, revenue collection from the alcohol industry is significantly smaller, at MXN 57.4 billion, while payments to workers is only MXN 8.4 billion. The policy note concludes with recommendations for policy makers to strengthen alcohol control measures, especially alcohol tax policies, in response to these substantial economic costs.