Smokers Consume Fewer Cigarettes When Cigarettes Are Less Affordable

This Policy Brief was written by Democracy Plus in Kosovo. The policy brief assesses the impact of affordability on tobacco consumption among adults along with the other relevant demographic factors. The authors define affordability as the percentage of household income per member of household required to purchase 100 packs of cigarettes. The findings suggest that a 1% reduction in affordability would reduce consumption by 3%. Age, gender, employment, civil status, and education are all relevant variables in smoking behavior. Specifically, a 1-year increase in age is associated with a 0.02% increase in tobacco consumption, while males consume 38% more cigarettes than females. Employed people and married people consume 4% and 0.5% more than their counterparts, respectively. The authors also find that adults with a secondary education consume 6% more cigarettes than those with a primary education or less, while adults with a tertiary education consume 6% less than those with a primary education or less. Regional differences exist as well, and those in rural areas consume 0.7% more than those in urban areas. The policy brief concludes by highlighting the importance of effective tax and price policies to reduce the affordability and consumption of cigarettes. 

A corresponding Working Paper can be found here.