Retail price of premium cigarettes in Europe 2017, by country

This statistic depicts the price of a premium pack of 20 cigarettes across selected European countries in 2017. The price of cigarettes is substantially different across Europe. As of 2017, the most expensive country in which to purchase cigarettes was the United Kingdom (UK) with a premium pack of 20 cigarettes retailing at 9.91 British pounds, followed by Ireland at 9.15 British pounds. Cigarette prices in Europe are driven by the respective taxes imposed within each of the member states and consist of a specific duty per 1,000 cigarettes and an ad valorem rate onto the recommended retail price, in addition to value added tax (VAT). Thus the highest rates of taxation are reflected in the retail prices. Similar rates of taxation between countries are also found for hand rolling tobacco, where the highest levels of taxation are found in the United Kingdom once again. Governments that impose such strong barriers to the purchasing of tobacco are considered 'nanny states', with high levels of control on other factors, such as advertising, bans of tobacco products on retail displays and graphic warnings on cigarette packs.