With an increase in the Federal Excise Duty (FED) to up to 153 percent, the prices of all brands of cigarettes in Pakistan have gone double.
Therefore, if a packet of Gold Leaf with 20 sticks was earlier being sold at Rs 250, now its price has surged to Rs 500 with 100 percent increase.
Latest Prices of Cigarettes in Pakistan
Brand | Price |
Gold Leaf | Rs 500 |
Dunhill | Rs 500 |
Marlboro | Rs 500 |
Benson & Hedges | Rs 500 |
Capstan | Rs 220 |
Gold Flake | Rs 220 |
Red & White | Rs 220 |
Morven | Rs 220 |
Pine | Rs 180 |
Champion | Rs 150 |
Kisan | Rs 150 |
Tander | Rs 150 |
As per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the prices of cigarettes recorded an increase of 76.45 percent on a week-on-week basis ending on February 23, 2023.
Whereas on a year-on-year basis from February 24, 2022 to February 23, 2023, cigarette prices depicted an increase of 164.71 percent.
It is estimated that more than 22 million people (20 percent of adults), including 32 percent of men and 6 percent of women in Pakistan, smoke tobacco.
Likewise, around 1,200 children between 6 and 15 start smoking in Pakistan every year.
The analysts say that the economic cost of smoking in Pakistan is Rs 615.07 billion, equal to 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, the alarming aspect remains that 170,000 people die in Pakistan yearly due to tobacco-induced diseases.