The impact of prices and taxes on the use of tobacco products in Latin America and the Caribbean

We examined the impact of tobacco prices or taxes on tobacco use in Latin America and Caribbean countries. We searched MEDLINE, EconLit, LILACS, unpublished literature, 6 specialty journals, and reviewed references.We calculated pooled price elasticities using random-effectsmodels. The 32 studiesweexamined foundthat cigarette priceshave a negative and statistically significant effect on cigarette consumption. A change in price is associatedwith a less than proportional change in the quantity of cigarettes demanded. In mostLatinAmericancountries, own-price elasticity for cigarettes is likely below -0.5 (pooled elasticities, shortrun: -0.31; 95% confidence interval = -0.39, -0.24; longrun:- 0.43;95%CI=-0.51,-0.35). Tax increases effectively reduce cigarette use. Lack of studiesusinghouseholdor individual-level data limits research's policy relevance.