The price of cigarettes in Japan has increased recently. With another round of cigarette tax increases on October 1, 2021, various Japanese cigarette manufacturers have simultaneously announced increases in retail prices. Although each manufacturer will have subtle differences, each The average price of the box increased by about 20 to 50 yen.
For example, the price of a 20-pack of "Mobius" cigarettes will increase from 540 yen to 580 yen, and the price of " Seven Stars " will increase from 560 yen to 600 yen.
"Seven Stars" is Japan's first filtered cigarette, produced by Japan Tobacco Company , Japan Tobacco Company is referred to as JT. In 1985, it inherited the cigarette business of the Japan Monopoly Corporation, and JT became the only company in Japan that can engage in cigarette manufacturing. monopoly company. To put it simply, almost all cigarettes commonly smoked by Japanese people are produced by this company.
日本たばこ Industry Co., Ltd. (Japan Tobacco Company)
"Seven Stars" is also a product with a large sales volume in convenience stores. Often referred to simply as "セッタ" or "ブンタ", when first released in 1962, it retailed for 100 yen.
Due to the increase in tobacco tax in October 2021, Seven Stars will set the current price to 600 yen. Compared with the selling price in 1962, the overall price has increased by 6 times.
Assume that a smoker smokes one pack a day, and the monthly (30 days) smoking cost is 18,000 yen. In other words, the cost for one year is about 216,000 yen, and 1 million yen for 5 years. This is a considerable expense. As a brand with a long history, Seven Stars has many smokers and fans. He complained that "the price of cigarettes used to be very cheap..." and had to continue smoking as prices increased one round after another. How much money can smokers save if
does not increase in price?
The reason for raising tobacco taxes is to protect the country's financial resources
Due to the aging of the population and increasing social security costs, the Japanese government can only increase tobacco taxes to ensure tax revenue.
Tobacco in Japan includes national tobacco tax, local tobacco tax, special tobacco surtax, consumption tax and four types of taxes.
The tax burden on general cigarettes in Japan is as high as 63%. Facts have proved that this is an important source of income. Otherwise, where would the money come from to distribute 100,000 yen to each person in the country?
According to the Japan Tobacco Industry’s 2018 National Tobacco Smoking Rate Survey, the average smoking rate of adult males in Japan is 27.8% (this is probably the same number in my country, but the smoker population is 350 million). Compared to the peak of 83.7% after 1965 ( Showa 41 years ago), this is a decrease of 56 percentage points in about 50 years. In terms of age group, the smoking rate among people aged 60 and above has dropped sharply to 21.3%, but it is still around 35% among people in their 30s to 50s, and the highest age group is in their 40s at 35.5%.
Smoking rates among adult men, although continuing to decline, remain high compared with other countries, with an estimated 14 million people smoking.
On the other hand, the average smoking rate among adult women is 8.7%, which has gradually declined since its peak (in 1966) but is almost the same. The highest smoking rate among those in their 40s was 13.6%, and the lowest was 5.4% among those over 60 years old.
Changes in smoking rates by gender and age
In addition, the popularity of e-cigarettes is rising due to increased health awareness, and cigarette sales have been declining since peaking in 1996. In addition, tobacco stores and cigarette vending machines The number is also decreasing.
As tobacco consumption decreases, tobacco tax revenue also decreases, and tax revenue can only be ensured by increasing tobacco tax revenue.
Currently, the tax system for products other than cigarettes is being reviewed, such as heat-not-burn tobacco, and the tax burden will also be adjusted to the same level as cigarettes.
According to data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the current tobacco product tax rate increase will be implemented in five stages, from October 2018 to October 2022, once a year.
The annual price increase has indeed made smokers complain endlessly. At least it is difficult for me to afford IQOS now. As the economic downturn caused by the new crown epidemic continues, cigarettes are increasingly considered a luxury item in ordinary Japanese families, with the exception of the rich.
In addition, Japan’s revised Health Promotion Law came into full effect in April 2020, which prohibits people from smoking indoors, including government buildings, restaurants, hotel lobbies and workplaces, which in turn makes smokers want to Smoking outside the home becomes more difficult.
In this case, many people must have decided to cry and quit smoking...
However, even if the price increases, it still cannot stop the large number of people. Japanese smokers, in an anonymous questionnaire survey, various "reasons for not quitting" among male smokers:
"For me, smoking has become my only hobby."
"Due to work, it is difficult to ensure a break, so smoking is a good break. In addition, it is simply because I like smoking."
"Because I have money in business, I don't think about 'giving up when I reach xx yen'. I also think Immersed in the superiority of paying more taxes, Even if a box costs 10,000 yen, you still have to smoke it (laughing)”
Although the price of cigarettes has increased due to the increase in tobacco taxes, according to data on October 30 this year, Japan’s JT reported year-to-date revenue of . 1.77 trillion yen ($15.5 billion), also up 10.9% from the first nine months of 2020. Adjusted operating profit at constant currencies rose 21.9% to 538.1 billion yen.
It seems that the worse the macroeconomic situation is, the more people smoke. Therefore, if tobacco taxes are raised, the demand for smoking will not drop significantly? (Slight decreases are definitely there)
A new round of price increases is coming in October next year. Japan Tobacco Company will cooperate with the Tobacco Growers Association to investigate and summarize tobacco farmers’ intentions for tobacco planting in the next year. Finally, based on the survey results, Japan Tobacco will submit proposals for tobacco leaf planting area and tobacco leaf price in 2022 at the Tobacco Leaf Review Committee held this fall.
For smokers, the most direct result of increasing tobacco taxes is the increase in the cost of smoking. It has no impact on people with high incomes, but for smokers with average incomes, some people can only bite the bullet and choose to quit smoking.
Years of tobacco control practice have shown that increasing tobacco taxes and the price of tobacco products is the most effective tobacco control measure. According to World Health Organization calculations, if all countries in the world increase tobacco taxes by 50%, there will be 49 million fewer smokers in the world and 11 million deaths from smoking will be directly avoided...
Therefore, it not only ensures fiscal revenue, but also We have saved people's health and it is expected that our price increase is on the way.
