The drop in sales volumes of excise-paid tobacco products has resulted in a significant loss of revenue for the government as consumers move to cheaper illicit products, economic research house Econometrix said on Tuesday. Citing National Treasury data, Econometrix said income from tobacco excise declined by R1.94-billion between 2015/16 and 2017/18, despite the government raising excise taxes annually for several years in a bid to discourage smoking while collecting revenue.