Translated by Sabrin Qadah 

The study revealed that a Palestinian family’s spending rate on smoking exceeds the rate spent on education, personal care or recreational activities.

According to the study that its results were presented by the MAS Economic Policy Institute, the Palestinian household expenditure average on cigarettes goes up to 40 dinars a month which equals 5% of gross income.

The study also showed that the Palestinian government revenues from smoking are nearly 1.5 billion shekels a year, at a time when the public treasury is losing about 400 million as a result of smuggling actions on al-karama crossing and unofficial local production.

According to the Bureau of Statistics data, 71% of tobacco and cigarettes consumed locally are imported. It also indicated that if it was possible to collect customs on all cigarettes consumed in the Palestinian market, the budget deficit would have been much lower than it is now.

Study author and researcher Massif Jamil said that the Palestinians almost have the highest proportion of spending on smoking in the world.