Public health advocates and experts have called on the government to reduce the number of cigarette price tiers, introduce a specific tax system, and impose effective taxation on all tobacco products in the national budget for fiscal year 2026–27 to curb tobacco use and increase government revenue, a press release said.
The demand was raised at a press conference titled “Demand for Taxation and Price Increase on Tobacco Products in the Upcoming FY2026–27 Budget for Public Health Protection”, organized by Dhaka Ahsania Mission at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Thursday.
Speakers at the event said that reforming the tobacco tax structure would reduce smoking prevalence, prevent premature deaths, and generate significant additional revenue for the government.
Under the proposed reforms, the existing four-tier cigarette pricing structure would be reduced to three tiers by merging the low and medium categories. The proposed retail prices for a 10-stick cigarette pack would be BDT 100, BDT 150, and BDT 200 respectively. They also recommended maintaining the existing 67 percent supplementary duty across all cigarette tiers while imposing a specific tax of BDT 4 per pack.
The speakers further proposed setting the retail price of a 20-stick bidi pack at BDT 30 with a 50 percent supplementary duty. They also recommended fixing the retail price of 10 grams of zarda at BDT 48 and increasing the price of 10 grams of gul from BDT 25 to BDT 30, alongside a 60 percent supplementary duty. They urged the government to continue the existing 15 percent VAT and 1 percent Health Development Surcharge on all tobacco products.
According to the speakers, implementation of the proposed tax measures could encourage nearly 500,000 adults to quit smoking and discourage more than 372,000 youths from initiating smoking. They claimed the reforms could prevent the premature deaths of over 370,000 people in the long term and reduce tobacco use prevalence by approximately 0.5 percentage points.
The proposed measures could also generate nearly BDT 85,000 crore in revenue from the tobacco sector, which would be around BDT 44,000 crore higher than the current fiscal year’s revenue, they added.
Professor of Dhaka University Dr. Shafiun Nahin Shimul said cigarette prices in Bangladesh have increased at a much slower rate than essential commodities in recent years.
“Between 2021 and 2023, sugar prices increased by 88.97 percent, potato prices by 86.58 percent, and flour prices by 75.09 percent. In contrast, prices of low-tier cigarettes increased by only 15.38 percent and medium-tier cigarettes by just 6.35 percent,” he said.
He noted that medium-tier cigarettes, which have the largest consumer base, saw the lowest price increase, making cigarettes increasingly affordable compared to daily essentials.
General Secretary of Dhaka Reporters Unity, Mainul Hasan Sohel said effective tobacco taxation would not only reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases but also strengthen the country’s healthcare financing.
President of the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum, Masudul Haque, said around 200,000 people die prematurely every year in Bangladesh from tobacco-related diseases, accounting for nearly 18 percent of total deaths.
The press conference was chaired by Mukhlesur Rahman, Deputy Director of the Health Sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission. Among others present were Shariful Islam, Coordinator of the Tobacco Control Project; Marzana Muntaha, Coordinator of Ahsania Mission Youth Forum; and Arifur Rahman Tipu, President of the Dhaka Metropolitan Shop Owners Association.
