Tobacco Sales In Jordan: Short-Term Revenue Gains And Long-Term Losses (Infographic)

Jordan, which has one of the highest rates of male smoking in the world, faces a dire financial paradox: the public treasury's dependence on tobacco tax revenues has become an indispensable financial lifeline in the short term, but at the same time represents a ticking time bomb for the health sector and the national economy in the long term.

Official figures indicate that tobacco is not just a widespread social habit; it is a net economic burden that consumes billions of dinars annually, while global tobacco companies exploit this financial conflict to disrupt the implementation of preventive health policies.

Jordan: The smoking capital of the world and a public health challenge

Smoking in Jordan has always been considered part of the "recreational culture," which has contributed to the spread of the phenomenon at rates that concern the international community. Smoking prevalence rates in Jordan are among the highest globally and regionally.

Shocking statistics: breaking down the catastrophic prevalence figures

National statistics reveal an epidemic that directly threatens Jordan's workforce. The prevalence of smoking among males in Jordan is at a catastrophic level of 71.2%, placing a huge demographic burden on future productivity and social security costs. This extremely high rate ensures a sustained influx of chronic diseases into the health system for decades to come.

In addition to traditional tobacco, the Kingdom is witnessing a worrying shift towards modern products and the feminization of addiction. The survey reveals that 14% of participants smoke hookah, and strangely, 54% of hookah smokers are female. This indicates that hookah, with its relative social acceptance compared to traditional cigarettes, has become a major gateway to addiction among females, further complicating the overall health crisis. As for electronic cigarettes, they are used by 7.2% of smokers, the majority of whom are male at 79.3%.

Despite these rates, there is a hidden demand for smoking cessation; 37% of participants reported that they had tried to quit in the past 12 months. This figure highlights the existence of a large segment of smokers who want to break free from their addiction, but it raises questions about the adequacy and effectiveness of government cessation services available to meet this urgent health demand.

The hidden epidemic: systematic exposure to secondhand smoke and institutional failure

Weak enforcement of the law is a direct indicator of institutional laxity. Studies show that 80% of adults in Jordan are exposed to secondhand smoke, which is in stark contrast to the public health law that prohibits smoking in public places.

The problem is exacerbated within government and educational institutions, which are supposed to set an example in enforcing the law. Appalling violations have been observed, with smoking seen in 70% of university buildings, 44% of government institutions and offices, and even 33% of health facilities themselves.

One of the most striking indicators of the breakdown in the regulatory culture is the revelation that 70% of Greater Amman Municipality employees are smokers. This particular institution, which is responsible for initiatives such as "Amman Healthy City" and the enforcement of the tobacco inspection manual, suffers from high rates of addiction among its law enforcement officers.

This situation creates an organizational culture that undermines oversight and makes it practically impossible for employees who are not smokers to impose strict penalties on the public. Consequently, the enforcement of public health law, despite its theoretical importance, remains paralyzed in practice.

The Treasury Paradox: Short-Term Revenue and Long-Term Losses

The crux of the Jordanian crisis is the fundamental contradiction between what the state earns from tobacco taxes and what it pays to treat the effects of tobacco use. Tobacco policy in Jordan has become primarily a fiscal policy, focused on generating revenue, rather than a preventive health policy.

The Treasury's addiction to tobacco: an analysis of revenues

The government's share of tobacco tax revenue is approximately JD 1 billion per year, equivalent to approximately US$ 1.41 billion. This amount represents a vital financial lifeline that the government uses to plug budget gaps, which explains why any announcement of a change in prices or taxes is accompanied by ongoing controversy. To generate additional revenue while combating the rapid spread of e-cigarette use among children, in 2024 the government approved a revised special tax system, under which the price of cigarette packs was increased by 100 fils.

Hidden costs: the net economic loss

When revenues are compared to costs, the claim that tobacco pays for itself collapses. The cost of treating tobacco-related diseases is estimated at US$2.1 billion annually, equivalent to approximately JD 1.42 billion. This means that tax revenues (JD 1 billion) do not even cover the direct costs of treatment (JD 1.42 billion), creating an immediate annual deficit of at least JD 420 million that is borne by the government health sector.

But the real burden is much greater than that. Reports indicate that Jordan's total annual economic losses due to tobacco use, which include healthcare costs, lost productivity, and premature deaths, amount to 1.6 billion Jordanian dinars. The net result is that for every dinar collected by the treasury from tobacco, the Jordanian economy loses 1.6 dinars in return, making tobacco a significant drag on national economic growth.

The following table illustrates the stark financial contradiction facing the Jordanian economy:

The tobacco lobby: infiltrating the corridors of power

Although Jordan was one of the first countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region to ratify the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004, commitment to implementing its provisions, particularly Article 5.3, which aims to protect health policies from the interests of the tobacco industry, remains lax.

Monitoring intervention: Tobacco Industry Index

The release of the fifth Tobacco Industry Lobbying Index report for 2025 in Jordan confirms that industry interference in public policy is not an incidental occurrence, but rather a structural and systematic issue. This report aims to provide policymakers with practical tools to limit this interference, but it implicitly suggests that the lobby has succeeded in infiltrating official institutions.

Pressure strategies: legitimizing violations and exploiting smuggling

Tobacco companies do not always need direct financial leverage; it is often enough for them to ensure that violations are legitimized within the legislative authorities themselves. This is clearly evident in the criticism directed at members of parliament who smoke cigarettes in parliamentary committee meeting rooms. This behavior by legislators undermines the authority of public health law and sends a message to the public that the violation is permissible, thereby fostering a culture of lax enforcement.

Companies also use the smuggling dilemma as an effective bargaining chip. Following tax increases (on traditional and electronic cigarettes), the illegal market has flourished, with the gap between official prices and smuggling prices leading to increased demand for products that are not subject to health controls.

The Jordanian Customs Department has documented large seizures, including 2,130 electronic cigarettes and 13,800 bottles of vape liquid, in addition to 13,100 contraband smoke cartridges. The results of these seizures are exploited by the lobby to pressure the government, promoting the view that any additional preventive tax increase will inevitably lead to erosion of treasury revenues due to smuggling. In this way, the lobby succeeds in transforming tax policy from a preventive tool into a mere financial exercise that does not aim to reduce consumption.

The real health impact: smoking and the burden of cancer

The staggering figures for smoking prevalence among males (71.2%) are fueling the rise in noncommunicable diseases in the Kingdom. The health analysis is based on documented data from the 2022 National Cancer Registry, which shows that incidence rates continue to rise, especially for cancers directly linked to tobacco, such as lung, larynx, and bladder cancer.

The annual costs of 1.42 billion dinars for treating diseases include not only cancers among smokers, but also chronic heart and lung diseases (NCDs), which require costly and ongoing health spending over many years of productive life. Furthermore, forced exposure to secondhand smoke at a rate of 80% imposes an unfair health burden on children and non-smokers, increasing rates of asthma and chronic respiratory infections in the community. This link between smoking and chronic diseases directly accounts for a large portion of the 1.6 billion dinars that the economy loses annually as a result of premature deaths and lost productivity.

Counterproductive policies and the needed shift: toward sustainable health

To achieve real change in tobacco control, a political decision is needed to break the cycle of financial addiction and regulatory weakness. Tax policy must shift from being a tool for generating revenue to a tool for reducing consumption.

Reformulating tax strategy and revenue allocation

Any new tax increase should aim to achieve prevention first. Most importantly, the government should adopt a mechanism of“earmarking” tobacco revenues. That is, a national tobacco control fund should be established, financed exclusively by the tobacco tax (1 billion dinars per year). This fund should be used to finance intensive awareness campaigns, strengthen customs controls, and provide subsidized or free smoking cessation programs to meet the demand of the 37% of smokers who want to quit. Earmarking these funds will ensure that every dinar collected from tobacco is directly reinvested in reducing the $1.42 billion in treatment costs.

Enforcing the law and leading by example

Enforcement of the 2008 Public Health Law must be rigorously strengthened, but this enforcement must begin internally. Government institutions, particularly those responsible for health initiatives such as the Greater Amman Municipality, must impose strict internal penalties on employees who smoke (such as the 70% of municipality employees who do). Officials cannot demand compliance from the public while employees violate the law inside government offices. Members of parliament and officials who violate the law inside their legislative chambers must also be held accountable to promote leadership by example and eliminate the normalization of violations.

Transparent mechanisms must also be implemented to ensure that decision-makers are fully protected from tobacco industry interference, in accordance with the requirements of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The efforts of civil society and the King Hussein Cancer Center to monitor this interference and submit annual non-governmental reports to increase accountability must be supported.

Jordan faces a challenge: Will it continue to consider tobacco tax "easy revenue" paid for by citizens' health and the state budget, or will it take a bold political decision to break this cycle? The numbers are clear: tobacco represents a net economic loss of at least 600 million dinars annually, and this financial waste is exacerbated by the increasing burden of cancer and chronic diseases. The shift towards sustainable health is not only a moral choice, but also an urgent economic necessity that requires sacrificing short-term revenue to save the economy and health in the long term.

MENAFN30092025000209011053ID1110131919