The tax was raised, the sale of Cigarettes in China Down

The tax was raised, the sale of Cigarettes in China Down

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Post Compass - The sales figures of cigarettes in China dropped in the last year, after the tax on cigarettes is raised. According to the data released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The policy of raising taxes smoking was done the Chinese Government in an effort to reduce the number of smokers. As the country with the consumer and the world's largest cigarette manufacturer, China's policy was regarded as a war against the habit of smoking.

China has 300 million smokers and 740 million people who are exposed to passive smoking. About two-thirds of the young men in China smoke, most start before they are 20 years old. Research shows, half of the smokers that die of diseases caused by smoking habit.

According to the WHO, the number of cigarettes sold in China last year were down 3.3 percent, according to data from March 2016.

Cheap cigarettes sales also down 5.5 percent in that period. The who considers the decline as a signal that the high taxes that would encourage poor smokers reduce smoking consumption.

"This is good news, because people from the lowest socio-economic in China is the most affected health and its economy due to the habit of smoking," said Bernhard Schwartlander, a WHO representative in China.

Last year, China raised the tax on cigarettes from 5 percent to 11 percent. The increase in State revenue it adds up to 11 billion dollars by 2015.

Due to tax increases, the selling price of cigarettes also average rise 10 percent, making it the cheapest priced cigarette brand rising 5 fold.