Cigarette Tax Scorecard: Africa

This Policy Brief was written based on the findings of the Cigarette Tax Scorecard. The policy brief evaluates the cigarette tax policies in Africa. In 2018, the average score in the region was 1.36 points out of 5, demonstrating that there is significant room for improvements. The overall score is an average of the following components: the cigarette price, changes in affordability, the tax share of the price, and the tax structure used. African countries performed best in the tax structure component, although the average score was only 2.43 points out of 5. The African region would benefit most from reducing the affordability of cigarettes over time. The average score in this component was only 0.70 points. Cigarette tax policies varied throughout the region. The top performer was Mauritius, with 3.3 points, while five countries scored only 0.5 points out of 5: Angola, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mali, and Mozambique. The policy brief further makes recommendations for governments in the region to address these challenges and improve public health while raising tax revenues. 

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View the entire Cigarette Tax Scorecard here. 

Access the entire Data set with all of the country scores here.