Bangladesh Tobacco Tax Proposal 2018-19

The most effective way to reduce tobacco use is to raise the prices of tobacco products through tax increases that lower their affordability. Higher prices discourage youth from initiating tobacco use and encourage current users to quit.

If the Government of Bangladesh reforms the current tobacco tax system following the recommendations for the FY 2018-2019 proposed in Table 1 to 3 below, it would:

• Encourage nearly 6.4 million current adult smokers to quit (3.1 million cigarettes smokers and 3.3 million biri smokers);
• Reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking by 2.7% and the prevalence of biri smoking by 2.9%
• Reduce premature deaths by 2 million among current smokers in the long term (1.1 million cigarette smokers and 938,650 biri smokers); and
• Generate between BDT 75 billion and 100 billion (or 0.4 % of GDP) in additional tax revenue. This additional revenue could be used to fund several new or existing programs to reduce the harms of tobacco use, prevent premature deaths and promote healthy lives.

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Bangladesh Tobacco Tax Proposal 2018-19