site.btaHousehold Expenditures for Cigarettes Up Between 2015 and 2021

Between 2015 and 2021, the share of households with cigarette expenditure increased (to 44%). Smoking intensity and average expenditure per household on cigarettes also increasеd, Dr Dimitar Sabev, economist and researcher at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), said at a press conference in Sofia, citing data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI) used for a study on smoking in Bulgaria. The event is part of a journalism workshop in Sofia on tobacco control organized by the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Life and the BlueLink Foundation. According to data for the period, which excludes 2020 because of the pandemic, the real price of cigarettes is falling. As people's incomes rise, so does their ability to buy cigarettes, Sabev said.

It is reported that rich people in Bulgaria smoke more than the poor. Bulgaria is the country with the highest smoking-induced mortality, Sabev said, citing data from the Global Burden of Disease Database. Serbia is next on the list.

The study touches on the issue of excise duty and cigarette consumption. It has been proven that increasing the excise tax and consequently the price of cigarette products is one of the most powerful factors that leads to a reduction in smoking in any country, said Dr. Gergana Geshanova of the Coalition for Smoke-Free Living

By 2009-2010, cigarette consumption in Bulgaria was very high. At one point, an ambitious excise policy was implemented by the then finance minister, who within two years raised the excise tax on cigarettes by about 100%, Sabev said. This, he said, led to a rise in the retail price of cigarettes, which led to a fall in reported consumption, he added, declaring that it was then that excise duties "froze". For ten years, excise duties on cigarette products were virtually unchanged and this led to a steady increase in consumption, the expert explained. "If we apply higher tax rates, if we raise taxes, consumption will actually go down," he said.