Affordability
8 Results
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News
Why Increasing Tobacco Taxes in El Salvador is an Excellent Idea
Currently, about 430,000 people smoke in El Salvador, roughly half of them will die from tobacco consumption. A significant proportion of young Salvadorans (one in ten) consume tobacco, which typically translates into higher healthcare costs and, for many, illnesses that will disable them and / or lead to death. Every year, about 1,600 people die…
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Ethiopia is increasing its tobacco taxes by introducing a specific excise
Last week Ethiopia passed a landmark bill increasing taxes on tobacco products. The tax reform came almost exactly a year after the country passed its comprehensive tobacco control law introducing broad smoke-free policies, advertising bans, large pictorial warnings on packs, new age restrictions on cigarette purchasing as well as banning electronic cigarettes and flavored tobacco.…
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Summers-Bloomberg Report Emphasizes Role of Excise Taxes in Health Promotion
The father of free markets, Adam Smith, made the case in his seminal book The Wealth of Nations (written in 1776) that “Sugar, rum, and tobacco, are commodities which are no where necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are therefore extremely proper subjects of taxation.” Today, the Bloomberg…
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Cigarettes are becoming more affordable especially among younger and lower socioeconomic status smokers in China
China, one of the fastest growing upper-middle income countries in the world, is taking the brunt of the global tobacco epidemic which is gradually shifting to the low- and middle-income countries. China’s large population and high smoking prevalence are part of this scenario. The new millennium has seen rising per capita cigarette consumption in China…
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Cigarette consumption has been increasing in Bangladesh even after a decade of tax and price increases: What went wrong?
Despite a high share of tax in price (greater than the WHO’s 75% benchmark) with periodic tax and price increases, cigarette consumption has been increasing in Bangladesh over the last decade. Between 2006-07 and 2016-17, the volume of tax-paid cigarette sales increased by 83%. At the same time, the share of low-price cigarette consumption increased…
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As cigarettes become more affordable, the number of Zambian smokers increases
Economic analysis of tobacco product demand in Zambia The new study used data from the 2012 and 2014 waves of the ITC Survey to examine the probability of smoking in Zambia. The modeling allowed for precise analyses of the impact of price on cigarette use in the country. Switching between factory-made and roll-your-own cigarettes was…
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Tobacco Products in Bangladesh Are Becoming More Affordable
To reverse this troubling trend, there is need for tax and price increases across all tobacco products over and above both inflation and income growth, as well as the creation of a more uniform tax structure. By Nigar Nargis To read more, see Nargis N, Stoklosa M, Drope J, Fong GT, Quah ACK, Driezen P,…
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News
When Tobacco Crowds Out Rice
The burden of the tobacco epidemic is always tragic, but it is particularly problematic for those in economic need. Losing a breadwinner to a tobacco-related disease often means years in poverty for the smoker’s family. More often, though, increased tobacco consumption leads to decreased family budget to purchase other essential goods—e.g., food, clothes, and hygiene…