Tobacco Taxation
Tobacco use causes more than 8 million deaths globally each year, with around 80% of the world’s smokers living in low- and middle-income countries. The costs of tobacco are high in terms of the negative impacts on public health and the economy. Increasing taxes on tobacco is the most effective way to reduce tobacco consumption and improve health outcomes, while also raising government revenues. However, as a policy tool, tobacco tax is widely underutilised. This is partly due to lobbying by the industry, which often makes exaggerated and false claims about the potential impacts of increasing taxes. Therefore, rigorous independent research and evidence is needed to inform policymakers in developing countries.
Blogs:
Cigarette sales in most African countries are going up all the time. But smoking rates are much lower than in high-income countries. Because of these comparatively lower smoking prevalence rates – combined with the urgent need to address infectious diseases – tobacco control policies have largely not been prioritised. Nigeria is a case in point. Preventing smoking rates…
News and events:
May 31st was World No Tobacco Day. Every year, tobacco use causes more than 8 million deaths globally, and 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries. The costs of tobacco are high in terms of the negative impacts on public health and the economy. Increasing taxes on tobacco is the most…
Research Projects:
Explore our new page on tobacco taxation Purpose Africa is vulnerable to the tobacco industry. It has a large and young population, rapid economic growth, a desire to attract foreign investment, and weak tobacco control policies. Although smoking prevalence in many African countries is modest, preventing its rise, especially amongst youth, remains a huge challenge….
This study will provide evidence-based analysis of tobacco taxation in Ghana. The main research theme addressed will be to assess best practices in tobacco taxation centering on the impact of tobacco tax increases on the retail price of tobacco products, tobacco consumption and government tax revenue. We hypothesize that this will provide the evidence needed…
Project Outputs
African Tax Administration Paper
Publications:
Cigarettes have generally become less affordable over time in developed economies, with increased taxes and low income growth, but more affordable in developing countries, where there have been minimal changes in taxes (Chaloupka et al. 2019). Studies by the WHO suggest that 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and…
This paper predicts the fiscal and public health outcomes from a change in the excise tax structure for cigarettes in Ghana. More than 5,000 people are killed by diseases caused by tobacco every year in Ghana (Tobacco Atlas 2018). Currently the country has a unitary tax administration approach, with a uniform ad valorem tax structure…
Smoking tobacco has been much less common traditionally in Africa than in Europe or North America. But this is changing. As Africa has become a growth market for the tobacco industry, adverse health effects are increasingly visible. While increasing tobacco taxation has been shown as the most effective policy tool in curbing tobacco consumption, many…
Partner publications:
West Africa Tobacco Taxation Factsheets
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Cote D'Ivoire
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo
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