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In a move risking further development of the contraband market, Australia raised cigarettes taxes on cigarettes and so the country maintains the dubious honor of having the most expensive cigarettes prices in the world. This 12.5% increase last week, the second increase in a year, now brings the average cost of a popular brand 20-stick pack to a whopping AU$40 or almost US$30 or around US$1.50 per cigarette.
Put another way, a pack-a-day smoker will spend around AU$15,000 a year on cigarettes. The similar cost for a year of vaping is estimated at AU$1,000.00, however only vaporizers/e-cigarettes without nicotine are allowed to be sold.
It is estimated Australia earns US$17 billion annually from cigarettes taxes, but as taxes go up, so does smuggling with estimates that this business - worth up to AU$550 million - will surely grow from this week onwards.
The goal is discouraging smoking, especially among young people and overall percentages have dropped form 20% 20 years to under 14% a few years ago. But according to reports from the National Health Survey the smoking rates have stalled since 2018 countrywide and risen in New South Wales and Victoria. In that same reporting period, Australia Statistics Bureau reported that there was only a 0.7% decrease in smoking in 2017-2018 among young people despite price increases.
After Australia, the expensive places to smoke are, in order, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, and the UK. The cheapest is Pakistan and Kazakhstan at under US$1.00 per pack.