El Salvador raises tobacco taxes.

In El Salvador, tobacco taxes will be increased. Until now, the smallest country in Latin America was characterized by a particularly low taxation on tobacco products (45%). Now taxed at 63%, the taxation of the latter remains however below the recommendations of the World Health Organization (70%)[1].

Health and human benefits

As Tobacco Atlas points out, a recent simulation of increasing tobacco taxes in El Salvador would have particularly beneficial consequences for the country's public health, notably by reducing smoking prevalence by 40% in just five years. On a fiscal level, an increase in taxes would bring in an additional $55 million to the state by 2025.

The price of tobacco in El Salvador

In El Salvador, there are no fewer than 430,000 smokers (10% of adults), while the prevalence among young people is around 10%. It is estimated that each year, more than 1,600 people die prematurely as a result of their tobacco consumption. The latter, which costs El Salvador 840 million dollars per year, represents a real economic burden for society.

Tax increases: an effective lever on prevalence

It is therefore useful to recall that an increase in taxes leading to a repeated and significant increase in tobacco prices remains the most effective lever for reducing the prevalence of smoking in a population. People in precarious situations, who are more sensitive to the price argument, are therefore the first to benefit from these measures.

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