Objective:

Carbonated beverage consumption is associated with various adverse health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Pakistan has a high burden of these health conditions. At the same time, the carbonated beverage industry is rapidly growing in Pakistan. In this context, we analyze the trends and socioeconomic factors associated with carbonated beverage consumption in Pakistan.

Design:

We use six waves of the cross-sectional household surveys from 2005–06 to 2015–16 to analyze carbonated beverage consumption. We examine the trends in carbonated beverage consumption prevalence for different economic groups categorized by per capita household consumption quintiles. We estimate the expenditure elasticity of carbonated beverages for these groups using a two-stage budgeting system framework. We also construct concentration curves of carbonated beverage expenditure share to analyze the burden of expenditure across households of different economic status.

Setting:

Nationally representative sample of households in Pakistan.

Results:

We find that the wealthier the household, the higher is the prevalence of carbonated beverage consumption; and the prevalence has increased for all household groups over time. From the expenditure elasticity analysis, we observe that carbonated beverages are becoming essential part of food consumption particularly for the wealthier households. And, lastly poorer households are bearing larger share of carbonated beverage expenditure in 2015–16 than that in 2006–2008.

Conclusion:

Carbonated beverages are becoming an increasingly essential part of household food consumption in Pakistan. Concerns about added sugar intake can prompt consideration of public health approaches to reduce dietary causes of the disease burden in Pakistan.