About the Scorecard

• Cigarette Price
• Affordability Change
• Tax Share
• Tax Structure

New in this Edition

• The global average cigarette tax score has barely risen over the past several years from 1.93 (out of 5.00) in 2014 to 2.28 in 2020. Only 75 out of 160 countries score 2.50 or higher.
• Overall scores have improved in 81 countries, stayed the same in 24 countries, and worsened in 48 countries.
• From 2018 to 2020, cigarette prices increased globally—except most notably in low-income countries, where average prices decreased by $Intl PPP 0.28. Cigarettes became more accessible to low-income populations and youth.
• While average cigarette prices rose in the Americas and Western Pacific regions between 2018 and 2020, the average tax share of retail price decreased. Revenues that could be gained by governments through tax increases were captured by the tobacco industry.