ArticleTobacco control2024
Extent of illicit cigarette sales in Nepal: findings from a retail survey.
Article in Tobacco control, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trends and burden of tobacco use in Nepal: Insights from the Global Burden of Disease study 1990-2021.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2026Article
- The Extent of Illicit Cigarette Sales in Five Rural Districts of Pakistan: A Cross-sectional Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIncreasing the tax on cigarettes is widely considered the most effective method to reduce its consumption. However, Nepal has a low cigarette tax as policymakers in Nepal are concerned about illicit trade of cigarettes if taxes are increased.
methodsThe study employed a retail survey approach used in India suitable for countries with prevalent loose cigarette sales, with improved methodology. In 2021, empty cigarette packs generated in a day's loose cigarette sales were collected directly from cigarette retailers from 23 primary sampling units covering rural/urban, geographic divisions, border/non-border to India and tobacco factory locations. The central points of each primary sampling unit were identified, and retailers were selected for the survey. A cigarette pack was classified as illicit if it had at least one of the following attributes: (a) no authentic excise duty sticker, (b) no graphic health warning, (c) no mention of 'maximum retail price/MRP' and (d) no production date, name, address and trademark.
findingsWe collected 4307 empty cigarette packs from 1204 retailers and 0.33% of them were classified as illicit. The estimates varied across location with the highest prevalence of illicit packs in Kathmandu (1.25%). All the illicit cigarettes were imported and were high-priced brands (>90%), mostly found in urban areas and not bordering India.
conclusionOur estimate of the illicit cigarette market share of 0.33% suggests that the industry's statement of 25% is grossly overstated.
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