The research team used economic modelling to calculate the effect of a one-off rise in alcohol taxes on sales of beer, cider, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink products.
Raising the tax by only 15c per standard drink would reduce sales of alcohol by 4.3% in the first year.
From now until the entire existing population of New Zealand dies, 110 lives would be saved in crashes, public health researcher Nick Wilson, of Wellington, said.
The cost of crash victims' treatment would also decrease by $3.6million and there would be a $240million reduction when it came to related "social harms''.
Study lead author Linda Cobaic said that figure covered temporary disability, legal and court proceedings, and vehicle damage resulting from crashes.
It did not cover cancer, liver disease, violence and child neglect.
The Government imposes different levels of excise tax on alcohol, related to the type of product, and the percentage of alcohol it contains by volume.
According to the Ministry of Health, four out of five adult New Zealanders drink alcohol, and one in five drinkers consumes hazardous quantities of alcohol.
Alcoholics are estimated to comprise 5% to 10% of the population.
Prof Wilson admitted there were some "wealthy heavy drinkers'' who would not care much about a price increase.
"But most binge drinkers are relatively young - and generally young people have less money and so are relatively more price sensitive,'' he said.
Beer and spirits excise tax is calculated on litres of alcohol - at present $29.43 and $53.60 of excise tax is imposed respectively per litre.
Wine is calculated on litres of beverage, and $2.94 is imposed per litre.
Prof Wilson said if income tax was reduced at the same time as the excise tax was increased, employers would be able to employ more people - potentially leading to a lower unemployment rate.
He agreed the health of heavy drinkers who did not seek treatment might become poorer, if the higher price meant they spent less money on healthy food and warm housing.
However, it would be good if they stopped spending on cigarettes, he said. The research appears in international journal Injury Prevention.
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“The cost of crash victims' treatment would also decrease by $3.6million and there would be a $240million reduction when it came to related "social harms''.
Prof Wilson said if income tax was reduced at the same time as the excise tax was increased, employers would be able to employ more people - potentially leading to a lower unemployment rate.
So every other time the tax on alcohol has gone up, consumption has dropped and unemployment has dropped???
I don’t think so!!!
Those changes come with a healthier attitude towards consumption which leads to increased employment.
Binge drinking was cemented into NZ culture when the Women’s Temperance Movement forced 6 O’clock closing on the troupes returning from World War 1, just as child poverty was cemented in with the feminists efforts to destroy the nuclear family ‘because it is the cornerstone of male power and privilege’.
Denigrating men and men’s efforts to make the world a better place for all is the root cause of these issues and more tax won’t fix that!