Starting this month, the price of cigarettes in New York will rise from $10.5 per pack to $13 (equivalent to $17).
$17 a pack, non-smoking friends must feel expensive, but compared with Australia, really small.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announces increase in cigarette prices starting in June
Scott Morrison, Australia's finance minister, has announced that smokers will be hit harder from Sept. 1: according to this year's budget, the price of cigarettes has risen to nearly $40 a pack!
Left is Finance Minister Scott Morrison, right is Australian Prime Minister Tam Po
As a result of the tax increase, cigarettes are expected to rise by $3 per pack
Last year, 30 Winfield Blues cigarettes rose from $32.5 to $35.2, up $2.7.
Despite soaring prices, the number of Australian smokers fell by a pitiful 0.2% in three years, to seventh place, first in Iceland, where smokers fell 12%, followed by Norway, which fell 7%.
Australia's alcohol and tobacco industry and drug are reported to be the third most expensive countries in the world, with Japan and New Zealand ranked first.
If an average smoker smokes three packs a week, he will spend $9 more a week, $468 a year, and more than a dozen packs of cigarettes.
As Australia is expensive, many Chinese friends bring cigarettes from home. However, since last year, Australian Customs has reduced from 50 cigarettes at a time to 25 cigarettes at a time!
Moreover, customs has stepped up efforts to crack down on incoming passengers' luggage, and violators will be fined high fines. There are already a lot of people have been admitted, do not have fluke psychology!
It seems that the Australian government has also tried its best to improve the health (tax) of the people. I wonder where the next step will be to increase the tax.