Price and consumption of tobacco in Italy over the last three decades

Changes in cigarette price have had an appreciable impact on smoking consumption in several countries. We analysed the price elasticity of demand for cigarettes in Italy over the period 1970-2001. A 1% increase in price of cigarettes led to a 0.30% decline in smoking prevalence and to a 0.43% decline in cigarette consumption. The present analyses confirm the existence of an inverse association between price and prevalence/consumption of cigarettes in Italy, and indicate that economic aspects may have important public health implications in tobacco control.