Tobacco prices: To hike or not to hike? | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 16, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2025
Tobacco prices: To hike or not to hike?

Panorama

Sabyasachi Karmaker
19 February, 2022, 10:10 am
Last modified: 19 February, 2022, 04:07 pm

Related News

  • FY26: Unchanged tobacco tax in proposed budget may cost government Tk20,000cr, say experts
  • Budget 2025-26: Tobacco tax can address revenue shortfall
  • Health adviser stresses need for tobacco-free nation to curb disease
  • CA for making youth aware of tobacco's harmful effects
  • Health Reform Commission to submit report after reviewing proposed tobacco law amendments

Tobacco prices: To hike or not to hike?

There is a strong call for raising tobacco prices, but can this move alone curb tobacco consumption?

Sabyasachi Karmaker
19 February, 2022, 10:10 am
Last modified: 19 February, 2022, 04:07 pm
Tobacco prices: To hike or not to hike?
Illustration: TBS

Before every financial year, there is an obvious discussion about hiking the price of tobacco products and imposing specific taxes. This year is no different. 

On 16 February, in a pre-budget meeting, Anti Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) asked the government to hike the price of tobacco products and impose higher taxes. However, the NBR chairman, also present at the meeting, said that simply hiking tax rates and prices will not help reduce tobacco consumption and safeguard public health.

ATMA stated that if their demands are implemented, the government will earn an additional revenue of Tk9,200 crore. At the same time, premature death of 4,45,000 adults and 4,48,000 young people will be prevented.

For the past decades, as well as incremental tax increases, there have been other initiatives taken by the government to curb tobacco consumption like awareness programmes and banning of all forms of advertisements for tobacco-related products. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

For the past few years, anti-tobacco organisations across the country have been calling for increased tobacco prices and the NBR has been complying with the demands by imposing incremental taxes on related products on a regular basis.

According to ATMA, tobacco use has remained relatively similar in recent years. Cigarettes, vapes, bidis, and other smokeless tobacco products are readily available in every corner of Bangladesh.

Shafiqul Islam, Head of Programmes of Vital Strategies, a leading INGO working towards building awareness against tobacco consumption, said, "The NBR chairman said that if the price increases, both the tobacco industry and the tax authorities are happy. The main problem here is that the price is being increased gradually. As a result, people are adapting to these small price increases. This has a limited effect on consumption. The price of low-tier cigarettes will have to be increased a lot at a time."

He added that the prices are very high in the countries that have been able to control the use of tobacco. 

Even the cheapest cigarette brand in neighbouring India is more than twice as expensive compared to that of Bangladesh. 

Between 2016 to 2018, Columbia hiked cigarette prices threefold, and consumption dropped 34%.

However, raising prices is not the only way to reduce the use of tobacco. 

"Easy access is a big issue in Bangladesh. Cigarette shops are everywhere where you can buy a single cigarette. Selling a single cigarette is strictly illegal in most developed countries," said Shafiqul Islam.

Only last December, New Zealand, in a sweeping clampdown on smoking cigarettes, declared that anyone born after 2008 cannot buy any tobacco products ever. By banning the sale of tobacco to its future generations, the country bids to phase out smoking altogether.

In Australia, the smoking rate of adults has almost halved since 1995. The country was successful in curbing tobacco consumption through a three-pronged approach of denormalising (e.g. through price increases, bans on sales to minors and restrictions on areas where smoking is permitted), education (e.g. at school and through mass media campaigns), and disruption to de-glamourise smoking (such as through the use of graphic warning labels and tobacco advertising bans).

Bangladesh aims to be a tobacco-free country by 2040, a goal set out in 2016 by the government of Bangladesh. Six years down the line, the question of how much the situation at the ground level has really changed, remains.

The purchasing power of the Bangladeshis has risen significantly. In that case, a small increase in the price of cigarettes does not amount to much. 

On the other hand, the tobacco industry contributes a lot to the economy. British American Tobacco (BAT) is the highest corporate taxpayer in the country. In fiscal year 2020-21, BAT Bangladesh deposited around Tk25,000 crore to the National Exchequer as Value Added Tax (VAT) and Supplementary Duty (SD).

Thanks to the contribution, the tobacco industry has a say when it comes to formulating policies. The tobacco industry interferes in national policymaking. Even during the Covid-19 lockdowns, they have lobbied to get permission for continued production and distribution.

 "The tobacco companies pay a huge amount of tax. This sector contributes more than many other sectors. This is true. And that's why we have to find alternatives," added Shafiqul, who is also a former additional secretary to the government.

Some experts argue that if the tobacco industry is affected, the government will lose a lot of revenue. However, Shafiqul Islam thinks that this sort of argument is in line with an economic perspective – where public health concerns are largly ignored.

Mortuza Haider Liton, the convener of ATMA, also agreed on the effect of price hike.

Hiking prices alone is not enough to curb tobacco consumption. But it is the most effective method. It is universally proven that an increase in price reduces consumption. Especially, when the price of tobacco is high, young people are discouraged from consuming tobacco, and tobacco addicts, especially the poor, are encouraged to quit

Mortuza Haider Liton, convener of Anti Tobacco Media Alliance

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) study report of 2017, 35% of all adults in Bangladesh use at least one form of tobacco product. The number is 37.8 million people in total. 46% of men and 25.2% of women consume tobacco. 

The prevalence of tobacco use among adults has decreased substantially from 43.3% in 2009 to 35.3% in 2017. While there is an overall decline in tobacco use, the median number of cigarettes smoked by a smoker per day increased from 6.4 to 7.6 sticks. On the other hand, the median number of bidis smoked decreased by 8.4%.


Sabyasachi Karmaker/Journalist. Illustration: TBS
Sabyasachi Karmaker/Journalist. Illustration: TBS

 

Analysis / Features / Top News

Tobacco / tobacco consumption / Tobacco companies

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
    BNP gears up for polls — preps ongoing from grassroots to top brass 
  • Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
    Non-performing loans surge by Tk74,570cr in Q1 as hidden rot exposed
  • Representational image of school children. File photo: Collected
    Govt issues urgent guidelines to educational institutes to curb Covid, dengue spread

MOST VIEWED

  • Vehicles were seen stuck on the Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway due to a traffic jam stretching 15 kilometres on 14 June 2025. Photo: TBS
    15km traffic jam on Dhaka-Tangail-Jamuna Bridge highway as post-Eid rush continues
  • Tour operator Borsha Islam. Photo: Collected
    ‘Tour Expert’ admin Borsha Islam arrested over Bandarban tourist deaths
  • Infographic: TBS
    Chattogram Port proposes 70%-100% tariff hike
  • Fighter jet. Photo: AFP
    3 F-35 fighter jets downed, two Israeli pilots in custody, claims Iranian media
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Merger of 5 Islamic banks at final stage: BB governor
  • Infograph: TBS
    Why 10 economic zones, including BGMEA's garment park, were cancelled

Related News

  • FY26: Unchanged tobacco tax in proposed budget may cost government Tk20,000cr, say experts
  • Budget 2025-26: Tobacco tax can address revenue shortfall
  • Health adviser stresses need for tobacco-free nation to curb disease
  • CA for making youth aware of tobacco's harmful effects
  • Health Reform Commission to submit report after reviewing proposed tobacco law amendments

Features

Renowned authors Imdadul Haque Milon, Mohit Kamal, and poet–children’s writer Rashed Rouf seen at Current Book Centre, alongside the store's proprietor, Shahin. Photo: Collected

From ‘Screen and Culture’ to ‘Current Book House’: Chattogram’s oldest surviving bookstore

10h | Panorama
Photos: Collected

Kurtis that make a great office wear

2d | Mode
Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

4d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

5d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

Macron to visit Greenland after Trump's annexation threat

6h | TBS World
Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

Important facilities including Natanz damaged in Israeli attack

6h | Others
Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

Iran's gas production from South Pars halted after Israeli attack

7h | TBS World
Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

Why the Strait of Hormuz is a key point of discussion in the Iran-Israel conflict

7h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net