Soft Drinks Industry Levy statistics commentary 2024
Updated 27 September 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/soft-drinks-industry-levy-statistics/soft-drinks-industry-levy-statistics-commentary-2021
Released: 27 September 2024. Next Release: Autumn 2025.
Headline statistics
The latest headlines for Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) statistics are:
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provisional SDIL receipts were £338 million for the financial year 2023 to 2024, compared to £355 million in the previous financial year (2022 to 2023) and £334 million in the 2021 to 2022 financial year
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provisional year-to-date receipts for the current financial year (April to August 2024) are £163 million
About this release
This annual Official Statistics publication provides Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) liabilities and volume declared at each rate, alongside receipts within the accompanying statistics tables.
SDIL traders declare liabilities on fixed quarterly reporting periods ending June, September, December and March, with payment due within 30 days following the period end date. Therefore, there is a one month lag between declared liabilities and receipts being received by HMRC.
The latest data covers the period from September 2023 to August 2024 and this is provisional data.
SDIL was announced at Budget 2016, and introduced in April 2018 as a new levy applied to the packaging and importation into the UK of soft drinks containing added sugar.
Soft Drinks Industry Levy Net Liabilities
SDIL rates
There are 2 rates of SDIL:
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standard rate (18p per litre) applied to drinks with sugar content between 5 grams (g) and up to (but not including) 8g per 100ml
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higher rate (24p per litre) applied to drinks with sugar content equal to or greater than 8g per 100ml
In April 2023, SDIL was extended to include packaged concentrates which are mixed with sugar and diluted by a fountain machine to dispense a drink containing a total sugar content of 5 grams or more per 100 millilitres. These are charged at the higher rate (24p per litre).
Table 1: Net liabilities declared at the end of each financial quarter for standard and higher rate SDIL over the previous 5 years, in £ million.
| Financial Quarter | Higher Rated | Standard Rated | Total Liabilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 Q1 | 64.8 | 2.6 | 67.4 |
| 2020-21 Q2 | 79.0 | 3.6 | 82.5 |
| 2020-21 Q3 | 72.8 | 2.6 | 75.5 |
| 2020-21 Q4 | 64.7 | 2.0 | 66.8 |
| 2021-22 Q1 | 83.5 | 3.3 | 86.7 |
| 2021-22 Q2 | 88.4 | 3.2 | 91.6 |
| 2021-22 Q3 | 83.7 | 2.8 | 86.5 |
| 2021-22 Q4 | 77.5 | 2.6 | 80.1 |
| 2022-23 Q1 | 94.6 | 3.8 | 98.4 |
| 2022-23 Q2 | 92.9 | 3.6 | 96.5 |
| 2022-23 Q3 | 83.2 | 2.8 | 86.0 |
| 2022-23 Q4 | 81.1 | 2.6 | 83.7 |
| 2023-24 Q1 | 85.7 | 3.2 | 88.9 |
| 2023-24 Q2 | 83.4 | 3.0 | 86.4 |
| 2023-24 Q3 | 75.5 | 2.1 | 77.6 |
| 2023-24 Q4 | 75.2 | 2.6 | 77.8 |
| 2024-25 Q1 | 82.5 | 2.7 | 85.1 |
Table 1 is plotted in quarters with Q1 referring to the first quarter of the financial year. Hence 2023 to 2024 Q1 refers to the months from April 2023 to June 2023.
For the full dataset that accompanies Table 1 go to Soft Drinks Industry Level statistics tables 2024.
Table 1 demonstrates several trends for SDIL liabilities declared:
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provisional net liabilities for the full financial year 2023 to 2024 were £331 million, of which 96.7% were higher rate. This is compared to £365 million in the previous financial year (2022 to 2023), of which 96.5% were higher rate
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provisional net liabilities for the first quarter of the current financial year 2024 to 2025 were £85 million, of which 96.8% were higher rate. This is compared to £89 million in the same period of the previous financial year (2023 to 2024), of which 96.4% were higher rate
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higher rate liabilities comprised, on average, around 96.6% of total net liabilities in each quarter since the 2020 to 2021 financial year
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net liabilities in the first two quarters of the 2022 to 2023 financial year were the highest since the tax was introduced
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net liabilities were lowest in the first and fourth quarters of the 2020 to 2021 financial year, likely due to economic impacts related to the coronavirus pandemic
Soft Drinks Industry Levy Gross Liabilities and Credits
Liabilities must be declared on each Soft Drinks Industry Levy return for volumes by rate and whether they are packaged themselves or imported into the UK:
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gross liabilities refer to liabilities declared before any credit is claimed
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net liabilities refer to liabilities after any credit has been claimed (gross liabilities minus credit declared)
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credit can be claimed on SDIL returns for drinks that are exported, lost or destroyed
Table 2: Gross liabilities declared as imported and packaged for the standard and higher rates over the previous 5 years, in £ million.
| Financial Quarter | Packaged Higher Rate | Imported Higher Rate | Packaged Standard Rate | Imported Standard Rate | Total Gross Liabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 Q1 | 61.5 | 11.5 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 76.9 |
| 2020-21 Q2 | 76.8 | 13.9 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 96.2 |
| 2020-21 Q3 | 73.7 | 11.7 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 89.9 |
| 2020-21 Q4 | 66.5 | 8.1 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 78.0 |
| 2021-22 Q1 | 84.0 | 9.8 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 98.4 |
| 2021-22 Q2 | 87.4 | 10.0 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 102.1 |
| 2021-22 Q3 | 82.1 | 12.0 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 98.0 |
| 2021-22 Q4 | 76.6 | 10.0 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 90.3 |
| 2022-23 Q1 | 88.3 | 16.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 109.9 |
| 2022-23 Q2 | 91.8 | 11.7 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 108.4 |
| 2022-23 Q3 | 78.8 | 14.4 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 96.9 |
| 2022-23 Q4 | 81.6 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 93.5 |
| 2023-24 Q1 | 85.5 | 9.5 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 99.3 |
| 2023-24 Q2 | 81.6 | 10.9 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 96.5 |
| 2023-24 Q3 | 78.8 | 7.1 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 89.1 |
| 2023-24 Q4 | 76.4 | 7.1 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 87.0 |
| 2024-25 Q1 | 84.3 | 7.9 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 96.1 |
The graph is plotted in quarters with Q1 referring to the first quarter of the financial year. Hence 2023 to 2024 Q1 refers to the months from April 2023 to June 2023.
For the full dataset that accompanies Table 2 go to Soft Drinks Industry Level statistics tables 2024.
Table 2 demonstrates several trends for SDIL liabilities declared:
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provisional gross liabilities for the full financial year 2023 to 2024 were £372 million, of which 10% were imported. This is compared to £409 million in the previous financial year (2022 to 2023), of which 13.1% were imported
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provisional gross liabilities for the first quarter of the current financial year 2024 to 2025 were £96 million, of which 8.9% were imported. This is compared to £99 million in the same period of the previous financial year (2023 to 2024), of which 10.3% were imported
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imported liabilities make up around 12% of gross liabilities on average, in each quarter since the 2020 to 2021 financial year
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gross liabilities in the first two quarters of the 2022 to 2023 financial year were the highest since the tax was introduced
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gross liabilities were lowest in the first and fourth quarters of the 2020 to 2021 financial year, likely due to economic impacts related to the coronavirus pandemic
Table 3: Credit declared from exported drinks for the standard and higher rates in the previous 5 years, in £ million.
| Financial Quarter | Exported Higher Rate | Exported Standard Rate | Total Credit on Exports |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 Q1 | 8.1 | 1.4 | 9.4 |
| 2020-21 Q2 | 11.3 | 1.9 | 13.2 |
| 2020-21 Q3 | 12.2 | 1.7 | 13.9 |
| 2020-21 Q4 | 9.9 | 1.4 | 11.2 |
| 2021-22 Q1 | 10.3 | 1.3 | 11.6 |
| 2021-22 Q2 | 8.7 | 1.5 | 10.2 |
| 2021-22 Q3 | 10.3 | 1.1 | 11.5 |
| 2021-22 Q4 | 9.1 | 1.0 | 10.1 |
| 2022-23 Q1 | 10.1 | 1.5 | 11.6 |
| 2022-23 Q2 | 10.5 | 1.4 | 11.9 |
| 2022-23 Q3 | 10.0 | 0.9 | 10.9 |
| 2022-23 Q4 | 8.9 | 0.9 | 9.8 |
| 2023-24 Q1 | 9.3 | 1.1 | 10.4 |
| 2023-24 Q2 | 9.1 | 1.0 | 10.1 |
| 2023-24 Q3 | 10.3 | 1.1 | 11.5 |
| 2023-24 Q4 | 8.3 | 0.8 | 9.1 |
| 2024-25 Q1 | 9.7 | 1.2 | 10.9 |
The graph is plotted in quarters with Q1 referring to the first quarter of the financial year. Hence 2023 to 2024 Q1 refers to the months from April 2023 to June 2023.
For the full dataset that accompanies Table 3 go to Soft Drinks Industry Level statistics tables 2024.
Table 3 demonstrates several trends for SDIL credit declared:
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provisional credit declared for exported drinks for the full financial year 2023 to 2024 was £41 million, of which 90.2% was higher rated. This is compared to £44 million in the previous financial year (2022 to 2023), of which 89.3% was higher rated
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provisional credit declared for exported drinks for the first quarter of the current financial year 2024 to 2025 was £11 million, of which 89% was higher rated. This is compared to £10 million in the same period of the previous financial year (2023 to 2024), of which 89.6% was higher rated
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the higher rate makes up around 88.7% of gross liabilities on average, in each quarter since the 2020 to 2021 financial year
Contacts
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