Research

Cigarette Tax Scorecard (2nd Edition): Europe

This Policy Brief was written based on the findings of the second edition Cigarette Tax Scorecard. The policy brief evaluates the cigarette tax policies in Europe. In 2020, the average score in the region was 2.92 points out of 5, which is higher than any other region. Still, there is significant room for improvement. The overall score is an average of the following components: the cigarette price, changes in affordability, the tax share of the price, and the tax structure. The European region performed best on tax structure, with an average score of 3.59 points. The region received the lowest score in the change in affordability component, earning an average score of just 1.38 points out of 5. Cigarette tax policies varied widely throughout the region. The top performers were the United Kingdom and France, with a score of 4.38 and 4.18 points, respectively. The lowest scores in the region were 0.75 points in Belarus and 0.88 points in Azerbaijan. This brief provides further recommendations for governments in the region to address these challenges and improve public health while raising tax revenues. 

View the entire Cigarette Tax Scorecard here.

Access the entire Data set with all of the country scores here.

June 2022

Location(s): Europe

Content Type: Policy Brief

Topic(s): Tax and price, Tax levels and structure

Citation