Smokers buy fewer ciggies in the first half of 2018

Home > Business > Industry

Smokers buy fewer ciggies in the first half of 2018

Published: 17 Jul. 2018, 19:53

Cigarette sales in Korea declined by 1.6 percent in the first six months of the year from a year earlier due to a government-led anti-smoking campaign and higher prices, data showed Tuesday.

Korean smokers purchased 1.68 billion packs of cigarettes in the first half of the year, compared with the previous year’s 1.71 billion packs, according to data compiled by the finance ministry.

In January 2015, Korea increased the price of cigarettes by 80 percent, from 2,500 won ($2.25) per pack to 4,500 won, in an effort to curb smoking. In 2016, Korea mandated that tobacco companies put graphic warnings on the upper part of both sides of cigarette packs in a move to reduce smoking.

The government collected a total of 5.5 trillion won in taxes from cigarette sales in the January-June period, up 1.5 percent from the previous year’s 5.4 trillion won.

Yonhap