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Hong Kong tobacco tax increase needed for city to cut smoking rate to 7.8% next year, health advisers say
- But concern group argues that higher tax could worsen illicit cigarette trade problem
- Hong Kong last raised tobacco duty by 31.5 per cent in February 2023
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A tobacco tax increase is needed to help Hong Kong cut its smoking rate to 7.8 per cent next year and an additional annual jump in the levy to take account of inflation will make the measure even more effective, government health advisers have said.
But a smoking concern group on Friday warned that the tax could worsen the problem of the illicit cigarette trade.
The Long-term Tobacco Policy Concern Group raised concerns about the levy after Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said in an interview with the Post earlier this week that the government would consider increasing the tobacco tax to further bring down the city’s smoking rate, which at present stands at 9.5 per cent of the population.
There are nearly 600,000 people who smoke every day in Hong Kong. Authorities hope to cut the smoking rate to 7.8 per cent by next year.
But Professor Kelvin Wang Man-ping, of the University of Hong Kong’s School of Nursing, said a more drastic increase in the tobacco tax would be needed to attain the goal.
“With just one year left, it would be very difficult [to bring down the rate],” he told a morning radio programme. “If we are not increasing the tobacco tax, I personally think it is almost impossible to [reach the goal].”
Wang, also a member of the statutory Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH), added there was no guarantee the government’s target could be reached even after an increase in tobacco duty.
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