Cigarette price frozen at 4,500 won for 11 years, eroding real value

Social cost of smoking reaches nearly 15 trillion won, deepening fiscal burden

Electronic cigarettes, including liquid-type devices, are displayed at a vape shop in Seoul. The photo was taken April 24, when a nationwide ban on online sales of liquid e-cigarettes containing synthetic nicotine took effect. [Yonhap]
Electronic cigarettes, including liquid-type devices, are displayed at a vape shop in Seoul. The photo was taken April 24, when a nationwide ban on online sales of liquid e-cigarettes containing synthetic nicotine took effect. [Yonhap]

As the World Health Organization warns that novel nicotine products are acting as new gateways into tobacco use, pressure is mounting on South Korea to revisit its domestic tobacco policy.

The WHO chose "Unmasking the appeal — countering nicotine and tobacco addiction" as its slogan for this year's World No Tobacco Day on May 31, according to industry sources. The organization cautioned that synthetic and imitation nicotine products, backed by diverse designs and marketing strategies, are stoking curiosity among young people.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare raised the issue at a World No Tobacco Day ceremony on May 29, calling for action against the spread of novel nicotine products and their indiscriminate advertising. The government's first anti-smoking campaign of the year focused on communicating the health risks of nicotine products, including synthetic nicotine and e-cigarettes.

Critics argue, however, that existing tobacco regulations are ill-equipped to keep pace with a rapidly changing market. The Ministry of Health and Welfare signaled plans to tighten cigarette price regulations through its 2026–2030 National Health Promotion Comprehensive Plan, but backed away after the proposal drew controversy, saying it would "approach the matter carefully, after thoroughly gathering opinions from experts and all sectors of society."

South Korea's cigarette price has remained at roughly 4,500 won since the last increase in 2015 — now in its 11th consecutive year of stagnation. That is about half the 2023 average of roughly 9,869 won across the 38 OECD member countries, placing South Korea 35th out of 38. With consumer prices and purchasing power rising over the same period, the real price of cigarettes has in fact fallen.

Food prices tracked by the Korea Consumer Agency's price information portal illustrate the gap. In 2015, when cigarette prices last rose, a bowl of jjajangmyeon — black bean noodles — cost an average of 4,598 won in Seoul; this year it costs 7,692 won, a rise of about 67 percent. Naengmyeon, cold noodles, climbed more than 54 percent over the same period, from 8,170 won to 12,557 won.

The low price of cigarettes is also seen as a drag on efforts to curb youth smoking. With popular dining and snack options for teenagers now routinely exceeding 8,000 won, critics say a 4,500-won pack of cigarettes does little more than lower the financial barrier to picking up the habit.

The importance of price policy in managing smoking rates is coming into sharper focus. The government's 2021–2030 National Health Promotion Comprehensive Plan set a target of reducing the male smoking rate to 25 percent by 2030. But a research team at Seoul National University's Institute of Health and Environment and Graduate School of Public Health projected that, if current policies remain unchanged, the male smoking rate will reach 32.24 percent by 2030.

The same team found that raising cigarette prices by 10 percent annually could bring the rate down to 29 percent, and that combining price hikes with non-price measures such as advertising restrictions could push it below 24 percent — within reach of the government's target. "The larger the price increase, the greater the reduction in smoking rates," the research team said, recommending bold pricing action.

The social and economic costs of tobacco use are rising every year. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the total socioeconomic cost of smoking reached 14.9517 trillion won (about $9.81 billion) in 2023, up 8.8 percent from the previous year. The figure has grown for four consecutive years, from 12.8912 trillion won in 2020 to 12.9754 trillion won in 2021 and 13.6316 trillion won in 2022.


spa@heraldcorp.com