Treasury losing €2.6 billion due to Dutch buying cigarettes abroad: Tobacco industry

The Dutch government is losing €2.6 billion annually because more and more people are buying their cigarettes and rolling tobacco abroad, said the tobacco industry association VSK, based on a study by market research WSPM. In 2020, that amount was only €1.4 billion.

The lost amount increased rapidly due to the excise duty increases of 2023 and 2024, according to figures from the National Smuggling Monitor. Dutch people are buying their tobacco less and less from legal shops and more often in Luxembourg, Germany, via social media, or illegally.

“We see that people aren’t smoking less, but rather changed their purchasing habits,” said Jan Hein Sträter, director of VSK. “People used to be accustomed to fixed tobacco prices; now price comparisons are the norm, and it has become normal to choose cheaper alternatives from abroad or on the black market.”

According to the researchers, approximately 3 million smokers will generate €3 billion in excise duty revenue this year. “That amount could have been almost twice as high if all tobacco had been purchased in the Netherlands.”

Last year, an average of 40 percent of all cigarettes were purchased abroad. For rolling tobacco, that percentage was close to 50 percent. In 2023, this average was still 25 percent. “In Germany, Belgium, or Luxembourg, a pack go cigarettes is often up to half the price,” the researchers said.

The VSK urged the Dutch government to align excise duties with those of neighboring countries to limit the cross-border effects and smuggling.