Hong Kong’s addiction clinics have recorded a 25 per cent rise in smokers seeking help to quit the habit since authorities raised the tobacco tax two years ago. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau revealed the latest figures on Sunday, praising the government’s tax measures for curbing the harmful practice. “We can see that since the tobacco tax rates increased two years ago, it has been effective in reducing smoking rates,” he told a radio show.
“The two consecutive years of increases, plus our new measures, will help those hooked to break free from nicotine’s clutches.” The government rolled out its first round of tobacco tax rises in 2022. A further increase was announced in February this year, with Lo saying at the time that the number of smokers seeking help at the facilities had “significantly increased” by 70 per cent, to about 700 to 800 people every month in March and April.
He told the radio programme that the overall number last year had jumped by a quarter compared with 2022. Earlier this week, the government announced it planned to pass 10 short-term measures before the end of next year to further decrease the city’s smoking rate, including a ban on flavoured cigarettes and the possession of alternative tobacco products. The measures aim to lower the city’s smoking rate to 7.
8 per cent in 2025, from the 9.1 per cent recorded last year. Chan at the time unveiled a rise of about 32 per cent this year, or an additional 80 HK cents per cigarette, .