Cigarette Tax Scorecard: Tax Share

This Policy Note was written based on the Cigarette Tax Scorecard. The policy note elaborates on one of the four scoring components used in the Scorecard: tax share. This component of the score measures the total tax share and the excise tax share of the price of the most-sold brand of cigarettes. The highest score of 5 points is awarded to countries where the total tax share is at least 75%, and the excise tax share is at least 70%. In 2018, the average score in this component was 2.06 points out of 5. There is significant room for improvement globally, although the European region and high-income countries perform best. The policy note further discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the measure, as well as recommendations for policymakers.