TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s health authorities have promised to review the country’s tobacco taxation to make cigarettes less affordable for the benefit of public health.

Taiwan revisits policies on tobacco taxes every two years, taking into account economic growth, smoking population, and other factors. The tax has not been adjusted for the past four years due to COVID-19 and a committee is scheduled next year when a decision will be made, CNA quoted Wu Chao-chung (吳昭軍) as saying on Wednesday (July 26).

The remark comes as academics and former health officials flagged the relatively low tax share of the retail price of tobacco in Taiwan. The World Health Organization believes higher taxes charged on cigarette packs not only help reduce the number of smokers but also increase government revenue.

The average price for a pack of 20 cigarettes was NT$116 (US$3.7) in 2022, including a 53% tax share, way below the WHO-recommended 75%, said Lee Yue-chune (李玉春), professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University’s Institute of Health and Welfare Policy.

She argued that Taiwan’s moves to raise tobacco taxes in 2009 and 2017 significantly drove down the smoking population but the effect is petering out because of a freeze on taxes. According to Lee, each year NT$80 billion worth of medical resources are spent on treating illnesses related to smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

Taiwan may look to France for the implementation of fluctuating tax rates on tobacco, in accordance with the changes in national income and inflation rates, suggested Huang Shih-chang (黃勢璋), deputy director of the Chung-Hua Institution Economic Research’s Third Research Division, wrote Up Media.