[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-108832-en":3,"doc-seo-108832-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},108832,1374391974468,"Eden","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",8,"Research & Report","Key Findings from the NCD Taxation Evaluation Policy Note - Tobacco","Policy note summarizing evidence from Tonga’s NCD taxation evaluation, focusing on tobacco consumption and tax measures. It highlights high male smoking prevalence and rising tobacco-related diseases, notes increased youth use, and describes the structure and recent growth of excise and consumption taxes. Results show cigarettes becoming less affordable after tax hikes, with demand elasticities varying by wealth, while locally manufactured brands and untaxed hand-rolled Tapaka Tonga expand as consumers shift, diluting health benefits and reducing government revenues.","Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized  \nTonga is one of the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) with high tobacco consumption prevalence. Approximately half of Tongan adult males smoke. The World Tobacco Atlas estimates that 8 percent of female deaths and 7 percent of male deaths in Tonga are due to tobacco 1 , and the number of smoking related diseases (e.g. lung and tracheal cancer) is rising.  \nSmokers get younger; the prevalence of tobacco use among school children has increased. According to the latest WHO data, the prevalence of tobacco use among school children ages 13–15 is around 35 percent. The prevalence of tobacco use among female students is significantly higher than that of adult females.2  \nTonga has some of the strongest tobacco tax policies of any Pacific country. Excise tax is the most important part of the tax incidence and is imposed at the import and production level in the form of a specific tax. Consumption tax is imposed at import, production, wholesale and retail levels. Import duty has been applied on imported tobacco products since FY2015–6 .  \nTonga has significantly increased its excise tax on cigarettes in the past few years. Excise tax on imported cigarettes rose by 49 percent in FY2016–7 and by an additional 18 percent in FY2017–8 (see figure 1) .  \nExcise tax on locally manufactured cigarettes increased by 16 percent in FY2016–7 and by 25 percent in FY2017–8 (see figure 2) . The significant tax rise in July 2016 raised the proportion of taxes as a percentage of price of the  \n1 The Kingdom of Tonga Health System Review, Health Systems in Transition, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2015.  \n2 WHO, Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemics, 2017.  \nThis policy note is prepared based on the findings and recommendations from Osornprasop, S. et al, Using Taxation to Address Noncommunicable Diseases:  \nLessons from Tonga, World Bank, 2019. If you need more information, the full report is available at the following website: [http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/](http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/)[ ](http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/)[en/844811561475012529/Using-Taxation-to-Address-Noncommunicable-Diseases-](en/844811561475012529/Using-Taxation-to-Address-Noncommunicable-Diseases-)[Lessons-from-Tonga](Lessons-from-Tonga)  \nPolicy Note: Key findings from the NCD taxation evaluation REPORT HIGHLIGHT  \nmost sold brand of cigarettes to 85 percent, which is fully compliant with the WHO recommendations. Prices of locally produced cigarettes have also risen, though not as much because of lower excise tax increases applied to them.  \nFigure 1: Volume and tax revenue of imported cigarettes  \nFigure 2: Production volume and tax revenue of locally manufactured cigarettes  \nThe excise tax made cigarettes less affordable and affected smokers’behaviors. For imported cigarettes, significant price increases in FY2016–7 resulted in a large decrease in their consumption, imported volumes, and tax revenues. Overall elasticities of demand for cigarettes, following the July 2017 tax increase, was -0.39; a price increase of 1 percent will lower cigarette demand by 0.39 percent. However, there was great variation of behaviors of smokers indifferent socio-economic groups. The elasticities of demand for cigarettes among smokers from the lowest wealth quintile was -0.63, compared with -0.21 from the highest wealth quintile. This means  \nsmokers from lower wealth quintiles are more responsive to tax-induced price increase and are likely to reduce cigarette consumption.  \n“  \n“[…] my husband can sacrifice in order for our family to have food,[…] I will return from the shop with a pack of  \nPall Mall. And then we have an argument. They can go ahead and eat, I will sit and smoke, that’s more important.  \n“  \n-Female, Ha’asini, Tongatapu  \nSince locally manufactured cigarettes were subject to lower excise tax increases than imported cigarettes, their consumption act","cbCairQCSWjAAjCU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairQCSWjAAjCU","pdf",6825915,4,1,5,"English","en",105,"# Policy context\n# Tobacco tax design and recent increases\n# Behavioral and demand impacts\n# Consumer substitution and health implications\n# Fiscal and public health implications","[{\"question\":\"What tobacco consumption and health trends does the note highlight for Tonga?\",\"answer\":\"Tonga has high tobacco use, with about half of adult males smoking. WHO data indicate rising youth use (ages 13–15 around 35%), and tobacco-related diseases are increasing.\"},{\"question\":\"How did Tonga’s excise tax changes affect cigarette affordability and demand?\",\"answer\":\"Excise tax increases raised prices and reduced consumption for imported cigarettes. The policy note reports overall demand elasticity after the July 2017 increase of -0.39, with stronger responsiveness among lower-wealth smokers.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did overall health benefits potentially weaken after the tax policy?\",\"answer\":\"Some consumers shifted from taxed manufactured cigarettes to cheaper locally manufactured options and to untaxed Tapaka Tonga. Tapaka Tonga use increased, and it is described as no less harmful than manufactured cigarettes.\"}]",1784474264,13,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"key-findings-from-the-ncd-taxation-evaluation-policy-note-tobacco","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/key-findings-from-the-ncd-taxation-evaluation-policy-note-tobacco/108832/",{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-30","2026-07-19",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What tobacco consumption and health trends does the note highlight for Tonga?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Tonga has high tobacco use, with about half of adult males smoking. WHO data indicate rising youth use (ages 13–15 around 35%), and tobacco-related diseases are increasing.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"How did Tonga’s excise tax changes affect cigarette affordability and demand?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Excise tax increases raised prices and reduced consumption for imported cigarettes. The policy note reports overall demand elasticity after the July 2017 increase of -0.39, with stronger responsiveness among lower-wealth smokers.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"Why did overall health benefits potentially weaken after the tax policy?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Some consumers shifted from taxed manufactured cigarettes to cheaper locally manufactured options and to untaxed Tapaka Tonga. Tapaka Tonga use increased, and it is described as no less harmful than manufactured cigarettes.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,109,114,119,122,127,130,134],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]