LettersHow the tobacco tax helped me quit smoking
- Readers discuss the effectiveness of raising the tobacco tax in lowering the smoking rate, and a factor affecting the birth rate in Hong Kong
In his 2023-24 budget speech, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced a 31.5 per cent increase in the tax on tobacco (60 HK cents per cigarette). This year, he announced a rise of about 32 per cent (80 HK cents per cigarette), taking the price of a pack of cigarettes to more than HK$90.
Research has shown that taxation is a powerful tool for reducing smoking among low-income groups. Those who smoke a pack a day would end up spending almost HK$3,000 (US$384) a month, a substantial sum of money, especially for low-income workers. They would surely need to cut back.
According to the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office of the Department of Health, after the tobacco tax increase was announced in the budget on February 28, the weekly average number of people calling its hotline needing help with quitting smoking rose by nearly four times compared to three months ago.