[Evaluation of the 2003 tobacco tax increase in Germany]

Implementation, acceptance, and effects of the increase in tobacco tax were examined. For this purpose representative samples were assessed before and after the increase of tobacco tax. Furthermore, official data on tax receipts were analyzed. The increase of tobacco tax was passed only partly to the consumer. 57 smokers (4.0%) stopped smoking because of the increase, and 11.9% reduced the amount of cigarettes consumed. The average number of cigarettes consumed was decreased by 0.06% (price elasticity of -0.01). On the basis of the official data, a relative decrease of 5.8% of cigarettes was observed (price elasticity of -1.04 for cigarettes from vending machines). The rather slight increase of price caused smokers to reflect on their smoking behavior. The amount of cigarettes used changed in the official data and in the subsample of younger subjects.