Romania's Cigarette Smuggling Reaches All-Time High in 2023

According to a report by The Romania Journal on January 22, 2023, Romania has seized over 150 million smuggled cigarettes within its borders, valued at nearly 110 million lei (22 million euros). This represents a nearly 40% increase in smuggling compared to 2022, reaching the highest level of illegal cigarette smuggling in the past five years.

In contrast, the authorities seized over 110 million smuggled cigarettes in 2022, while the annual seizure volume in 2018, five years ago, was recorded at 112 million cigarettes.

According to the latest data from Novel Research, the annual smuggling rate in Romania increased by over one percentage point in 2023, reaching 8.2%. This comes after a significant decrease in the annual smuggling level to 7.1% in 2022, which was also the lowest level recorded in the past 15 years. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the national budget revenue.

In 2023, Romania's cigarette smuggling rate is consistent with the European average at 8.2%, according to a study conducted by KPMG in 2022. Last year, the taxation of tobacco and nicotine products underwent two consecutive revisions, making Romania's tobacco tax and cigarette prices relatively high in terms of purchasing power within the European Union. In neighboring countries of Romania, cigarette prices are roughly half of what they are in the country, making smuggling highly advantageous for criminal networks.

It is worth noting that Romania shares a border of over 2000 kilometers with non-EU countries, where tobacco prices can be as low as three times less than in Romania.