Portugal's Sugar Tax Cut the Share of the Sweetest Drinks by 45 Percent, but Sales Are Now 10 Percent Above 2017
The DGS healthy eating report shows drinks moving into lower sugar bands every year since 2017, while sales volume rose 33 percent after 2020. It also records a breastfeeding high and, for the first time, what the public would back.
Portugal's tax on sugary drinks is still doing what it was designed to do to recipes, but not to how much people buy. The 2026 annual report of the Programa Nacional para a Promoção da Alimentação Saudável (National Programme for the Promotion of Healthy Eating, PNPAS), published on Thursday by the Direção-Geral da Saúde (Directorate-General of Health, DGS), shows the share of taxed drinks in the top sugar band fell by 45.1 percent between 2017 and 2025. Over the same period, total sales of drinks with added sugar or sweeteners ended up 10 percent higher than in the tax's first year.
Recipes moved down the bands
The special consumption tax was created by Lei n.º 42/2016 (Law 42/2016) and revised by Lei n.º 71/2018, which introduced the four sugar bands in force since 2019. Using sales data from the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (Tax and Customs Authority), the DGS found that between 2019 and 2025 the share of drinks in the lowest band, under 2.5 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres, rose by 81 percent. The share in the 2.5 to 5 gram band rose by 54 percent, and the share in the 5 to 8 gram band fell by 77 percent.
The shift continued last year. Between 2024 and 2025 the proportion of drinks with 5 grams or more of sugar per 100 millilitres fell by 10.2 percent. Separate monitoring under the industry reformulation agreement found average sugar content in these drinks dropped from 5.94 to 4.41 grams per 100 millilitres between 2018 and 2023, a cut of 25.7 percent.
But volumes climbed back
Sales volume fell by 17 percent from 2017 to 2020, then rose by 33 percent from 2020 to 2025. The report notes that sales have been above the 2017 level every year since 2022. In other words, each litre carries less sugar, but more litres are being sold.
Asked by Lusa whether the tax should be extended to biscuits or cakes, PNPAS director Maria João Gregório said the current context, including the cost of living, is "not very favourable" to new taxes.
A record for breastfeeding
The report also records the highest rate of exclusive breastfeeding yet measured. In 2025, 46.9 percent of one-year-olds had been exclusively breastfed to six months, drawn from primary-care records. The rate to four months has risen every year since 2019, from 50.9 percent to 58.8 percent. The DGS itself urges caution: part of the jump may reflect better clinical recording as more family health units move to the Model B organisation, rather than a real change in how long mothers breastfeed.
What the public would support
For the first time, the programme commissioned a public opinion survey: 1,000 adults, questioned online between 7 November and 3 December 2025. Most measures tested drew agreement above 80 percent. Charging VAT at different rates according to a food's nutritional quality drew the most support among the tax measures. Mainly healthy food in nurseries and schools drew agreement above 90 percent, and the report describes support for free meals in those settings as strong. Smaller portions in packaged food and restaurant menus split opinion more, though agreement still exceeded 50 percent.
The wider picture
According to the 2025 national health survey, 57.1 percent of adults and 35.5 percent of children aged 5 to 14 are overweight or obese. Moderate or severe food insecurity fell to 3.5 percent in 2025, the lowest since INE began measuring it in 2019. Health centres gave 175,139 nutrition consultations last year, 28 percent more than in 2024, but patients waited 65 days on average from referral to appointment.
Among its priorities for 2026 and 2027, the programme lists a new national food and physical activity survey. Gregório told Lusa that fieldwork should begin in October.
