Illicit cigarette study is blowing smoke, says council on smoking and health

One out of three cigarettes smoked in Hong Kong last year was illicit, costing the government more than HK$3.2 billion in lost tax revenue, a study by two overseas think tanks says.  But the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) says the results are “dubious”.  The Illicit Tobacco Indicator study – conducted by UK-based Oxford Economics and the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC) in the US – suggests that the city’s illicit cigarette consumption rate stood as high as 33.6 per cent of 1.8 billion cigarettes smoked in 2013, causing a loss of HK$3.2 billion in taxes. Of the 14 countries studied, Hong Kong had the third highest consumption rate, after Brunei and Malaysia, which ranked first and second, respectively.

 

 

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1588896/illicit-cigarette-study-blowing-smoke-says-council-smoking-and-health