The global energy drinks market continues to expand, fuelled by demand for functional beverages that deliver energy, help with concentration, mental alertness, as well as physical performance.
It is a market that is continuing to grow from an estimated $83.31bn in 2026 to $157.21bn by 2034, exhibiting a CAGR of 8.26% during the forecast period. North America dominated the energy drinks market with a market share of 35.48% in 2025.
There has been growing concern about the impact of these energy drinks on younger people with research claiming it can cause anxiety, sleep disturbances, high blood pressure and increased heart rates.
These concerns have led to growing regulatory intervention. Although approaches differ widely from voluntary guidelines and restrictions on marketing to comprehensive bans in certain countries and regions.
The UK Government is one of the most recent to take action over energy drink sales. It is to ban energy drink sales for under-16s in England from April 2027, with the focus being on protecting children’s health from the harms linked to high-caffeine energy drinks.
The ban, which only covers England, could potentially see Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales follow.
It will apply to drinks, other than tea or coffee, containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre and covering sales in all retail settings, including shops, vending machines, websites and online.
The UK Government said it is estimated around 100,000 children in England drink energy drinks high in caffeine every day and evidence suggests this can negatively impact their physical and mental health, as well as their education.
Children living in more deprived areas and households were more likely to consume these drinks, increasing health risks and impairing their learning, it said.
The UK is not the first country to be concerned about the impact of his caffeine drinks.
Earlier this month India took drastic action against some major energy drinks brands.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulator raised concerns over misbranding issuing notices to a number of drinks brands saying the products do not meet the prescribed standards to be labelled as energy drinks under Indian food safety regulations.
In Canada energy drinks are subject to federal regulations, set by Health Canada, including requirements related to caffeine levels and labelling.
However, The National Assembly of Quebec, a Canadian Province, recently approved Bill 9, an act to prevent the harmful effects of energy drinks on the health of young people.
It defines a beverage as an energy drink if it has a caffeine concentration of 150 milligrams per litre or more and contains other ingredients, such as taurine, vitamins or minerals.
The move has come under fire from the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA) which said it was enacted using an “expedited legislative process” that precluded “meaningful factual, scientific, and medical analysis”, that will not serve or advance public health.
The CBA said that The National Assembly’s concerns about caffeine would be better served by focusing on education, prevention, and awareness rather than restricting a product that is not a major source of caffeine in the diet of Quebecers.
Meanwhile, the EU has decided not to take regulatory action but it does require mandatory high-caffeine warning labels on all products containing over 150mg of caffeine per litre.
This is despite the European Food Safety Authority consumption data indicating that adolescents are the age group with the highest consumption of energy drinks, with some of them being high chronic users.
Several member states including Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria have already introduced their own strict national bans on sales to minors.
While there are currently no plans for EU legislation on the issue the EU did highlight that industry bodies such as UNESDA (representing the non-alcoholic beverages sector) and Energy Drinks Europe apply voluntary marketing restrictions, particularly concerning children.
However, there is an interesting move taking place in the US, which is looking to focus on caffeine labelling.
While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no specific regulations for energy drinks there are moves to look at caffeine labelling, which could impact on everything from coffee-based drinks, to RTDs to energy drinks. The guidance agenda identifies documents the agency considers priorities for the year.
The FDA said that with the growing consumption of caffeinated beverages and foods, its updated 2026 Human Foods Program guidance agenda, will highlight industry best practices for labelling added caffeine content in foods in connection with both packaged foods and beverages and at retail and restaurant settings.
