Results from the Tobacconomic Cigarette Tax Scorecard, which assesses the cigarette tax policies in over 170 countries, show that the Philippines is the least tobacco-friendly country in Asia as it ranks highest in the region on the scorecard.
Using data from the World Health Organization’s biennial Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, the four areas the Scorecard looks at are the absolute price of cigarettes, changes in affordability, the tax share of the price, and the tax structure used.
Out of an overall score of 5, the Philippines was the highest-ranking Asian country, scoring 3.75, followed by Sri Lanka (3.38), Singapore (3.25), Kazakhstan (3.00), and Turkmenistan (3.00).
The lowest-ranking – or in other words, the more tobacco-friendly – Asian countries were Laos (0.50), Cambodia (0.50), Myanmar (0.63), Vietnam (0.88), and Pakistan (0.88).
Interestingly, Pakistan won the World No Tobacco Day 2021 Award from the World Health Organization’s regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean for its “efforts to curb the use of tobacco.” Also interesting is that the Tobacco Control Cell, which was leading Pakistan’s anti-tobacco efforts, has been disbanded.
China, which is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco, had an overall score of 1.25. Japan scored 1.50, Indonesia scored 1.63, and South Korea scored 2.50.