Last December, Economics for Health launched the fourth edition of its Cigarette Tax Scorecard, which studied cigarette tax policies in 171 countries based on indicators including the full price of cigarettes, changes in cigarette affordability, the share of taxes in retail price, and tax structure.
The study found that most governments are failing to implement best practices in tobacco taxation, as the global average cigarette tax score in 2024 was 2.01 points out of five, which has not changed significantly since 2022 at 2.02. Economics for Health, formerly known as Tobacconomics, notes that governments are not raising or updating taxes adequately to keep up with inflation and real income growth.
However, the Philippines maintains its position as a global leader in cigarette taxation, as reflected in the 2024 edition of the Scorecard: The Philippines had the fourth-highest cigarette tax score in the world and the highest cigarette tax score in Asia, with 3.75 out of five, behind only the UK (4.13), Finland (4.00), and Belgium (3.88).
Although the Philippines has not legislated for higher excise taxes on cigarettes since the last Tax Scorecard in 2022 (the last cigarette tax reform was in 2019), it is the country whose score improved the most (+2.50) in the two-year time frame, thanks to a perfect score of five in the affordability and change in tax structure categories. A correct score means that cigarette prices are higher than incomes. Meanwhile, the high score in the tax structure category may be because in 2024, the 5% annual automatic indexing for inflation of cigarette excise taxes began, a feature of the Tobacco Tax Reform of 2019 or Republic Act (RA) 11346.
These wins and accolades are the result of more than a decade of hard-won tobacco tax reforms, starting with the 2012 Sin Tax Reform or RA 10351, and continuing with two more tobacco tax increases during the Duterte administration.
While our past reforms have allowed us to excel on the global stage, local data shows that our cigarette taxes are failing to curb consumption.
In 2023, National Nutrition Survey (NNS) data from the Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) showed that smoking prevalence is increasing again for the first time in a decade, from 19% in 2021 to 24.4% in 2023.
The tobacco industry blames the illicit tobacco trade for this increase in smoking prevalence, using this increase in prevalence to argue that tobacco taxes are ineffective in reducing consumption and that tobacco taxes should be reduced. But health advocates disagree: If smoking prevalence is increasing, tobacco taxes must be increased even further to effectively curb consumption. A study conducted in 2024 by Action for Economic Reforms showed that illicit tobacco trade is less than 1% in Metro Manila cities, and the high illicit trade in Mindanao cities is isolated to geographic factors and weak local enforcement.
The industry story on trafficking is worrying, given the fact that in 2025, industry-aligned politicians of 19th Congress attempted to reduce tobacco taxes through House Bill 11360. in 20th Congress and industry-aligned politicians are filing a bill once again proposing to reduce excise taxes, this time on vape products, a move that advocates are calling misguided and dangerous for youth.
Protecting the gains from tobacco taxes doesn't just mean opposing their rollback and advocating for higher taxes on cigarette products – it also means pushing for stronger regulation and taxation on new products like vapes and heated tobacco products (HTPs), products I've seen children as young as five using in our community in Quezon City. Nicotine addiction is now being delivered to kids in shiny, attractive packages and flavors, and our legislators are pushing to make it even more accessible to the next generation. Civil society's call to action is clear: raise vape and HTTP taxes now.
Pia Rodrigo is AER's Strategic Communications Officer.