High tobacco taxes increase revenue and reduce cigarette consumption in Turkey

Smoking rates and cigarette consumption dropped dramatically in Turkey between 2008 and 2012/13, but tobacco tax revenue doubled, according to a story in the Daily Sabah quoting government figures.

The introduction of a ban on smoking in enclosed public places and an almost doubling of taxes saw the annual consumption of cigarettes fall by 15 per cent between 2008 and 2013, according to figures from the Turkish Tobacco and Alcohol Regulatory Authority.

And according to the 2013 World Health Organization’s Global Adult Tobacco Survey, the number of people smoking in Turkey fell by 1.2 million – or 7.5 per cent – to 14.8 million between 2008 and 2012.

But tax revenue from tobacco products rose from $5.2 billion in 2008 to $10.2 billion in 2013.

From May this year, taxes made up nearly 82 per cent of the retail price of a pack of cigarettes, making Turkey’s cigarette taxes the eighth highest in Europe.