{"content":"

Price increases through higher taxes on tobacco products<\/h3>
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According to the World Bank, price increases are the most effective and cost effective tobacco control measure, especially for young people and others on low incomes, who are highly price responsive. A price rise of 10% decreases consumption by about 4% in high-income countries. The impact of price can be illustrated by what happened in France and the Netherlands. During 2003 the price of the leading brand in France, Marlboro\u2014with about 30% market share\u2014increased by 31% while cigarette sales fell 13.5%. European cigarette tax policy is based on the price of the most popular price category in each country. In France, Marlboro is the most popular price category and thus is a good indicator of tax and price policy for cigarettes in France. Surveys conducted in November\/December 1999 and 2003 showed that the proportion of smokers in France decreased from 35% to 30%, a fall of almost two million smokers. Furthermore in 2003 more smokers said they wanted to stop (66% v 58% in 1999) and price became the main reason they wanted to stop smoking (fourth place in 1999). In the Netherlands in February 2004, the price of a pack of Marlboro increased by just over 18%.During the year 2004 cigarette sales decreased by 12.8% and the number of smokers fell from 3 950 000 in 2003 to 3.690.000 in 2004, almost 7% fewer.<\/p>\r\n<\/div><\/section>","hash":"489aa125e5f6223e98b3d2d11786d0ec","css":"","js":""}