Panama: A Global Leader in Tobacco Control – or the World’s Biggest Cigarette Trafficking Hub?

Depending on who you ask, Panama – which recently played host to the COP9 meeting of parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) – is either a best-in- class example of a country using tobacco controls to excellent effect, or the world’s biggest hub for illicit cigarette trade.

A recent video report by news website Euractiv highlights this dichotomy.

Thanks to robust tobacco controls, smoking in Panama is largely restrictive, while novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes are fully banned. Furthermore, between 2009-2023, the excise tax on cigarettes skyrocketed from 15% to 100%.

As a result, nowadays hardly anyone can be seen smoking in the streets of Panama City. In fact, Panama has the lowest recorded prevalence of tobacco consumption in the Americas, dropping from 28% in 2000 to 5%-6% today. A true tobacco control success story.

But on the other side of the fence lurks a different picture. The sharp rise in cigarette excise tax has led almost all people who do smoke to switch to cheaper products in the black market, as local criminal organisations take advantage of the new situation, reports Euractiv.