Tobacco Tax Policies: Formulation, Effectiveness, and Challenges

With around 24 million active adult tobacco users, Pakistan ranks among the largest tobacco consuming countries in the world. The prevalence rates among men and women are 32.4% and 5.7%, respectively. Among the in-school youth (aged 13–15 years) in different cities, tobacco prevalence ranges between 6.1% and 14.1%. This situation requires the government to make corrective policies to alter public behavior in the interest of individuals and society at large. One way to do this is through taxation policies. Increasing tobacco taxes have been found to reduce its consumption. Despite the empirical evidence that tax policy is effective in reducing tobacco consumption, increasing revenues, and improving public health outcomes, the country’s taxation policy is among the weakest action areas in the fight against tobacco.