Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Costs of Smoking, 2019

This Policy Brief was written by University of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The report estimates the economic cost of smoking in the country in 2019. The researchers find that the total economic burden of tobacco use is between 718.74 million and 973.68 million Bosnia-Herzegovina convertible marks (BAM) (average of 831.44 million BAM, or 2.36% of GDP). This includes between 557.30 million and 765.99 million BAM of direct costs (average of 648.30 million BAM, or 1.84% of GDP). The direct smoking-attributable costs represent between 25.57% and 35.14% of total health costs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The study also estimated indirect morbidity and mortality costs of smoking. The indirect morbidity costs are between 50.59 million and 66.67 million BAM (average of 57.82 million BAM, or 0.16% of GDP) and the indirect mortality costs are between 110.85 million and 141.01 million BAM (average of 125.32 million BAM, or 0.34% of GDP). The policy brief concludes by recommending evidence-based tobacco control policies to reduce this significant economic burden.

A corresponding Report can be found here.