Smoking and passive smoking are some of the main problems for public health in Georgia. According to the WHO, 29.9% of adults in Georgia smoked tobacco in 2017. Smoking prevalence among males was 54.6% – fifth in the world and first in Europe. A study by UNDP suggests that about 0.4% of the adult population of Georgia die annually from tobacco-related diseases and the estimated total annual economic costs of smoking account for 2.4% of GDP.
TOBACCO CONTROL POLICY AND TAXATION
To reduce the health and economic harm of tobacco use, Georgia implement...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Apr
19
Mar
13
BACKGROUND
After a hike in excise tax on cigarettes in January 2017, Parliament of Georgia is going to introduce legislative changes to the existing tobacco control law (TCL) in March. Since its enactment in 2003, TCL has been modified several times. However, the recently proposed changes can be considered the most radical step towards a tobacco-free society in Georgia. New draft law comprehensively covers production, packaging, marketing, advertising, selling and consumption of tobacco, and other activities of tobacco businesses. The main changes can be...
Recent Comments
Sir Humphrey Appleby is a straight shooter! Adorable!!!!
Tuesday, 14 March 2017 2:02 PM
Good work Giorgi.Something you did not mention is the long-term effect on the public health system and the public pension.As indiv... Read More
Tuesday, 14 March 2017 11:11 AM
Thanks for your comment, Simon.I totally agree with you on necessity to assess/review long-term effects on the public health syst... Read More
Wednesday, 15 March 2017 11:11 AM
Feb
20
Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Yet we have a tax that could prevent hundreds of millions of premature deaths. It is time to use it more effectively.
-Prabhat Jha
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that cigarettes are bad for human health. Yet, whenever the government tries to regulate consumption of cigarettes by increasing their price, it gets a very mixed reaction from the public. Some people (mostly non-smokers) welcome these policies, while others accuse the government of ...
Oct
10
During the last 12 months, the Georgian authorities have been conducting interesting experiments designed, so it seems, to test the resilience of domestic beer producers. In September 2014, the industry was hit by Article 171 of the Civil Code, prohibiting alcohol consumption in public places. The beer market, 97% of which is supplied by local producers, has immediately shrank by 22% (in physical volume, see chart), in annual terms.
As if that were not bad enough, the Georgian Ministry of Finance had another surprise up its sleeve: a doubling of excise t...
Recent Comments
A Czech economist claims that beer is not healthy?
Monday, 12 October 2015 2:02 PM
Tax changes aside, the spike in February also coincides with my first visit to Georgia. But I'm sure that is just a coincidence. A... Read More
Saturday, 10 October 2015 8:08 PM
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