Cigarette Prices and Smoking Experimentation in Sierra Leone: An Exploratory Study

This study examines the effect of cigarette prices on the likelihood of experimental smoking among adolescents in Sierra Leone. The study links data from the 2017 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) to price data covering 2008-2017 obtained from the World Health Organization (WHO). After employing duration analysis techniques, we find that increases in cigarette prices are associated with a lower probability of smoking experimentation, with an estimated price elasticity of -1.63 (CI: -.24 to -3.02). Other factors affecting an adolescent's decision to experiment with smoking are parental and friends' smoking status, gender, exposure to tobacco advertising, and income. We conclude that higher prices, through excise taxation, are important tools for controlling smoking uptake among the youth of Sierra Leone.