Key points:
1.The Polish government has announced that it will increase regulations and enforcement efforts on e-cigarettes starting in 2024, as well as raising taxes on tobacco products including disposable e-cigarettes.
2.The new policy, set to take effect in July 2025, will impose a heavy tax of 40 Rotee (approximately 10 US dollars) on each e-liquid disposable e-cigarette, causing a significant increase in market prices.
3.The new policy has not yet been implemented, but market sales have already shown a significant decline, with sales in the first quarter of 2025 down 22% compared to the same period last year.
4.The new sales tax could potentially increase the price of disposable e-cigarettes from around 20 Swiss francs (about $5) to close to 50 Swiss francs (about $13).
According to the Republic of Poland newspaper, the Polish government has declared war on smokers starting in 2024, increasing the consumption tax on e-cigarettes and tobacco products (including cigarettes, tobacco, and heated tobacco) beyond the previously set "tax roadmap" standards. The disposable e-cigarette market is particularly affected, with the new tax rate imposing a tax of 40 zloty (approximately $10) on e-liquids in these products, expected to result in price increases of several tens of percentage points.
The Republican Times reported that despite the new tax rates set to be implemented starting from July 1st, the impact is already being felt. Manufacturers are beginning to gradually withdraw the sales of these products. According to market monitoring data from the tobacco industry, sales of disposable e-cigarettes in the first quarter of 2025 have decreased by 22% compared to the first quarter of 2024. The sales in the first three months of 2024 were 12.72 million units, but by January to March 2025, sales had decreased to 9.89 million units. In contrast, in the record-breaking year of 2023, quarterly average sales were close to 25 million units.
The national tax department's inspection of e-cigarettes may also limit the sale of disposable e-cigarettes to a certain extent.
In recent months, they have intensified their crackdown on the grey market and conducted strict inspections on legally operating businesses. For example, in February 2025, officials from the Customs Agency of the Carpathian Mountains province seized 3000 illegal disposable e-cigarettes with a capacity of 10 milliliters. These products not only lacked the necessary tax labels but also exceeded the legal limit of 2 milliliters.
Strict inspections on companies following tax regulations have also impacted the timeliness of product deliveries to stores, which may be a contributing factor to the decrease in sales. The reduction in sales was achieved without any administrative orders, despite the Ministry of Health's intention to implement such orders ultimately not being carried out.
From an economic perspective, a 40 złoty consumption tax on disposable e-cigarettes could potentially increase the unit price from approximately 20 złoty (about $5) to nearly 50 złoty (about $13). This could effectively hinder the popularization of e-cigarettes among the younger generation. A report from the Polish Society for Medical Progress in the journal "21st Century Medicine" points out that up to 63% of young people using nicotine-containing products choose e-cigarettes, while only 33% of adolescents choose traditional tobacco products.
Image: Adobe Stock Translation: Image: Adobe Stock
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