The economic and health benefits of tobacco taxation

Tobacco use kills 6 million people each year, and this could rise to 8 million by 2030 if the global epidemic is left unchecked. With over 80% of premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases- of which tobacco use is the main risk factor- occurring in developing countries, tackling tobacco use needs to be recognized by the international community as a development priority as well as a health priority.

The Economic and Health Benefits of Tobacco Taxation, produced by the Tobacco Free Initiative of the World Health Organization and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, highlights the importance of tobacco control in the post-2015 development agenda, and the potential for higher taxes on tobacco products to act as a large funding source for governments. Taxing tobacco products has been proven to be the most effective tobacco control measure for reducing consumption, and therefore saving lives. Introducing higher tobacco taxation is a win-win policy: it not only saves lives, but it also increases government revenue that can then be spent on health and development priorities.

The document was originally launched at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 13-16 July 2015. The topic remains relevant for the discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals, to be adopted in September 2015 at the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

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The economic and health benefits of tobacco taxation

WHO and FCTC