China is the country with the largest tobacco production and consumption in the world, with a smoking rate of over 38%. According to statistics, the number of smokers in the world is decreasing, but at the same time, the number of smokers in China is expanding.

For people nowadays, smoking is not only a pastime, but also a status symbol. Some people have to buy high-grade cigarettes when they go out to do business or talk about business, so that they can be worthy of the occasion. Because they think that going out to get high-grade cigarettes will save face, the price of cigarettes on the market ranges from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. So why is there such a big difference between a few dollars of cheap cigarettes and a few hundred dollars of cigarettes?

Take a pack of soft Chinese in 65 yuan as an example. 65 yuan is enough for ordinary working people to pay for a day's meal, but why can such a small pack of Chinese cigarettes sell at such a sky-high price?

In fact, the cost of cigarettes is not high, they all use the same raw materials, and the price depends on the production process; From the buyer to the grower, it is about 20 yuan a kilogram, and some are even cheaper.

High-grade cigarettes usually choose the middle part of cigarettes as tobacco, and the amount of essence added will be more. With the best cigarette holder and high-grade packaging, the cost of a pack of Chinese cigarettes in 65 yuan will not exceed that in 3 yuan, and the cost of those cigarettes with several hundred pieces will not exceed that in 8 yuan. So why is the cost so low that it becomes so expensive for consumers?

In fact, the most important thing is tobacco tax, which accounts for a large part of the national tax revenue, and the tobacco industry is a big taxpayer; Because there are too many smokers in China, the state has been imposing heavy taxes on the tobacco industry, which is not a small income for the country. In fact, cigarette factories charge 54.5% tobacco consumption tax on the cost of a pack of cigarettes, and these taxes include: value-added tax, income tax, stamp duty and so on. Add the production cost and profit of the cigarette factory, and then sell the cigarettes to the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, which then sells them to retailers. Therefore, the price of cigarettes is high, which is higher than tax.