Maldives Customs Service statistics indicate that the amount of cigarettes and other tobacco products brought into the country are increasing year by year despite raising duties.
Maldives Customs Service statistics indicate that the amount of cigarettes and other tobacco products brought into the country are increasing year by year despite raising duties.
Between January and September end this year, MVR 234 million worth of tobacco products have been imported into Maldives, the statistics indicate.
This includes cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products.
As per the shared information, MVR 1.7 billion worth of tobacco products were brought into Maldives between November 2018 and November 2023.
The last time duty on tobacco products was increased was in 2019. With these changes implemented the coming year, the price of a cigarette rose by MVR 3.
As per Customs' statistics, MVR 292 million worth of tobacco products were imported in 2019.
In 2020, MVR 268 million worth of cigarettes and tobacco products were brought in. This is the year out of the five when the State received the least amount as duty from tobacco products. It is believed that imports decreased this year due to measures taken to combat the global Covid 19 pandemic.
Since then, the amount has been steadily increasing every year.
In 2021, MVR 292 million worth of tobacco products were brought in, with the amount rising to MVR 303 million in 2022, and MVR 317 million last year.
The government has imposed a duty raise again, this time to MVR 8.
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