Health Ministry Proposes To Increase Sugar Tax In Budget 2025

The previous 10 sen tax increase under Budget 2024 had produced successful results in reducing sugar consumption by 9.25 percent.

Following this move, the Health Ministry intends to push to further raise sugar tax to 20 percent of the retail price under Budget 2025.

Additional sugar tax

The government had first introduced the tax on sugary drinks 2019 at 40 sen tax per litre. Budget 2024 raised this tax to the current 50 sen.

In a written reply in Dewan Negara in July, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad had announced his ministry’s intention to push this sugar tax to 20 percent of the retail price in the upcoming Budget 2025.

The proposed introduction on the additional tax on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) will likely impact ready to drink and pre-mixed drinks producers, NST reports.

Sugar-sweetened beverage tax

This category includes popular brands on the local market like Milo, Nescafe and Nestum. At the moment, the SSB category does not include sugar sweetened products used for preparation of fresh beverages, such as sweetened condensed milk.

Sugar-sweetened products that do not fall into the ready-to-drink and pre-mixed drinks category form a larger percentage of the retail market so any move to include these categories will have a bigger impact on the food chain.

The government will be tabling Budget 2025 on October 18, 2025.