The adult smoking rate fell nearly six percentage points to 23.8 per cent between 2009 and 2015, according to the latest WHO Global Adult Tax Survey (GATS) which credits the government tax hikes on cigarettes that took effect in 2013.

Driven by the Sin Tax Reform Law that raised taxes on tobacco and alcohol products in 2013, the average pack price for 20 cigarettes roughly doubled to PHP 48 (EUR 0.87) in 2015 from PHP 24.9 in 2009, according to the WHO report. The international health agency has implemented GATS surveys in more than 25 low- and middle-income countries.