As reported by the World Health Statistics 2016 smoking causes every second death
in the world. The prediction of the World Health Organisation is that between 2025
and 2050 the number of cumulative deaths from smoking will be around ten million a
year.
Smoking is frequently analysed in scientific literature from a health, moral or criminological
perspectives, because addictive disorders precipitate and perpetuate far-reaching
social problems. Individuals and their families suffer from relationship imbalances
or in the worst case, from loss of relatives. Companies experience additional costs
resulting from increasing absenteeism and in the long run their financial performance
is declining. At the macro-environmental level, it leads to economic and social problems
such as the need of expensive health treatments.
This paper intends to examine the economic aspects of the impacts of smoking. Our
goal is to reveal the economic and social harm and possible benefits related to the
production and trade as well as consumption of tobacco products. The possible benefits
linked with tobacco products are rarely analysed even though some individuals, businesses
and society at large can, in some ways, benefit from them.
In the first part of the article the economic theories and related questions are introduced
which provide the theoretical framework for the empirical research. Following the
theoretical review, the economic and social benefits, harms, and costs caused by the
use of tobacco products are presented based on available statistical data and secondary
research.
