Volume cigarette sales in South Korea fell by almost four percent in 2017 from those of a year earlier, according to a story in The Korea Herald citing finance ministry data.
It was not clear where the ‘almost four percent’ figure came from however. The country’s smokers were said to have bought 3.45 billion 20-piece cigarette packs last year, down from 3.66 billion packs the year previously. Such a decrease would suggest a fall of between five and six percent.
At the beginning of January 2015, a tax-led increase saw the retail price of cigarettes rise by 80 percent, from 2,500 won ($2.25) per pack to 4,500 won.
The government collected 11.2 trillion won ($10.5 billion) in taxes from cigarette sales last year, down 9.2 percent from the previous year’s 12.4 trillion won.
Sales, revenue down
