EHYT: Alcohol delivery sales approved, consequences will hit especially those in vulnerable situations

25.06.2026 - The Finnish Parliament approved on 23 June 2026 a law change allowing home delivery of alcohol and foreign distance sales by 98 votes to 77. EHYT considers the decision harmful from the perspective of public health and the national economy. The law increases the availability and marketing of alcohol from several directions at the same time, in a situation where resources for prevention work are being cut. In addition, the law threatens to cause significant tax losses for Finland. The harms will particularly affect those who are already in vulnerable situations: people with substance dependence and their loved ones.

Throughout the legislative process, EHYT has highlighted that increasing the availability and marketing of alcohol increases harms especially among groups that are already in a difficult situation. The Government has pursued good alcohol tax policy, but even that risks being undermined when taxes are rarely paid on alcohol ordered from abroad.

Harms will hit the most vulnerable

The law enabling home delivery of alcohol will especially affect people who are already in vulnerable situations. In Finland, more than 89,000 children live before reaching adulthood in a family where at least one parent has a serious substance use problem. This decision will have a direct impact on their daily lives.

“All parties expressed concern during the parliamentary process about the prevalence of intimate partner violence, and yet the majority ended up approving alcohol delivery sales. At the same time, research shows that alcohol consumed at home increases violent situations,” says EHYT’s executive director Juha Mikkonen.

Throughout the process, EHYT has sought to bring into the centre of decision-making the question of which groups the law will actually affect: children, people recovering from substance use problems, and their loved ones. These groups are not the loudest voices in the alcohol policy debate, but a significant share of the harms falls precisely on them.

The law is also problematic economically. According to the Finnish Tax Administration and Customs, taxes remain unpaid in about 98 percent of distance sales orders directed to Finland. Because of this, the state loses an estimated up to 285 million euros per year. The lost tax revenue is about twice as much as the 140 million euro cut the Government has already decided to make to state grants for social and health organisations.

“The profits from alcohol sales flow abroad, but the harms and their costs remain in Finland. The costs caused to society by substance-related harms are already in the billions for Finnish taxpayers. It is a value choice to support operators selling alcohol and seek savings from organisations offering help,” Mikkonen says.

EHYT demands that the effects of the law are monitored systematically: consumption, harms, alcohol deaths, the amount of alcohol ordered from abroad, and tax revenue. EHYT is disappointed that the decision was made without sufficient impact assessments, which makes follow-up monitoring necessary.

Public health needs strong defenders

The alcohol, gambling and tobacco industries have significant financial resources to promote their business interests without needing to take responsibility for the harms caused by their products. Ultimately, the question is who defends public health and the population groups in the weakest position in society, who carry a significant share of the harms.

The work carried out by organisations is an essential counterweight in this context, and it will also be needed in the future. Society must make this work possible and also take it into account in the funding of organisations. EHYT will monitor the effects of the law at grassroots level in people’s everyday lives and bring information to decision-making about harms and how they are distributed.

During changes of this kind, resources for substance use prevention should be strengthened, not weakened. When the substance use and gambling markets are opened up, the importance of prevention and effective substance use treatment increases. At present, the measures are moving in the opposite direction: prevention work has been cut, even though the state collects about 2.5 billion euros each year from alcohol and tobacco taxes alone. Part of these harm taxes should be earmarked for the prevention of substance-related harms and public health work. Preventing substance-related harms requires stronger national guidance than at present and closer cooperation with the wellbeing services counties.