The Economic Costs of Tobacco Use in Bangladesh: An Updated Estimate Including Health and Environmental Damages [Working Paper Series]

This Working Paper was written by the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) in Bangladesh and Economics for Health. The working paper assesses the economic cost of tobacco use in Bangladesh with an expanded analysis, including health-related costs and environmental externalities. The annual health-related economic burden, estimated using a prevalence cost-of-illness framework, is BDT 730.63 billion, which accounts for 83.5% of total economic costs. This includes BDT 307.71 billion in direct costs of public and private health expenditures and BDT 422.92 billion in indirect costs from morbidity and premature mortality. The environmental externalities, such as waste, land degradation, and pollution, are estimated at BDT 144.81 billion, or 16.5% of overall costs. In total, the researchers find that the annual economic cost of smoked and smokeless tobacco consumption and production amounts to BDT 875.44 billion, or 1.58% of the country's GDP. This likely underestimates the full scope of tobacco-related economic burden. On the other hand, tobacco tax revenue was approximately BDT 400 billion that year, less than half of the estimated economic costs. The working paper concludes with recommendations for policy makers to strengthen tobacco control to reduce consumption and the economic burden of tobacco use.