Raising Tobacco Taxes as a Strategy to Smoke Less and Quit More

This Policy Brief was written by the Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (CIAD) in Mexico. The policy brief assesses the impact of increasing cigarette prices on consumption and cessation among the entire population and various subgroups. The researchers find that a 10% increase in the price of cigarettes would reduce consumption by 6.9% overall, and between 6.7% and 7.4% in each geographic area. This would decrease consumption more among smokers with noncommunicable diseases. Specifically, consumption would decrease by 7.2% among smokers with hypertension, 7.3% among smokers with diabetes, and 7.0% among smokers who are obese. The results find that increasing the specific component of the tobacco tax by 1 peso per stick would reduce prevalence from 19.07% to 18.3%, as 602,500 smokers would quit. 55% of the quitters would be smokers with noncommunicable diseases. The policy brief concludes with recommendations for policy makers to increase tobacco taxes to encourage smokers, and especially those with NCDs, to quit smoking.

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A corresponding Report can be found here.