Sandhani for tobacco tax hike to curb youth smoking

Bangladesh has the highest tobacco use rate in South Asia, with 35.3 per cent of adults consuming tobacco products and around 37.8 million adults currently using tobacco, according to speakers at a press conference in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Amid growing concern over tobacco use among adolescents aged 13 to 15, Independence Award-winning organisation Sandhani called for a significant increase in tobacco prices in the proposed national budget for FY2026-27 to discourage smoking among young people and reduce tobacco-related deaths.

The demand was raised at a press conference titled "Effective Increase in Tobacco Prices to Discourage Youth Tobacco Initiation: Sandhani's Budget Proposals for FY2026-27" at the National Press Club.

Sandhani proposed merging the low and medium cigarette tiers and fixing the retail price of a 10-stick cigarette pack at Tk100, with a supplementary duty of Tk4 per pack. It also recommended setting high-tier cigarette packs at Tk150 and premium-tier packs at Tk200.

Speakers said tobacco-related diseases cause nearly 200,000 premature deaths annually in Bangladesh.