Raising tobacco taxes could help low- and middle-income countries curb tobacco use while raising revenue as they deal with debt and aid reductions. But it’s not happening in many countries.
Tobacco use kills over 7 million people yearly. To combat this, the World Health Organization has long recommended that countries implement a set of proven measures known as MPOWER, which includes passing legislation to warn and protect people from the harmful effects on health of tobacco, and reduce its use.
One of the measures is raising taxes on tobacco at or above 75% of the price of the most popular brands of cigarettes. Yet only 40 countries globally have raised their tobacco taxes to this level, according to the latest data from the WHO 2025 Global Tobacco Epidemic report published on Monday during the World Conference on Tobacco Control taking place in Dublin, Ireland.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
