Tax as a share of the retail price of tobacco products in Spain in 2018

When a smoker buys a pack of cigarettes in Spain, most of the money outlaid for the purchase will end up in the Spanish state vault, since nearly 80 percent of its price corresponded to taxes in 2018. New and healthier trends have had an impact on the consumption of tobacco in recent years, prompting the birth of new ways to smoke cigarettes, such as heat-not-burn tobacco and electronic cigarettes. Compared to its more traditional relative, these products are significantly less taxed, with a 45 percent tax on heat-not-burn tobacco and 21 percent tax on e-cigarettes.

Smoking in Europe: what’s the situation?

Greece was the European country that had the highest share of smokers, with approximately 37 percent of the population in 2017. Spain’s population featured 28 percent smokers the same year, surpassed by Slovenia and Czechia, both with 29 percent of smokers. The European countries with the smallest proportion of smokers were the United Kingdom and Sweden, with 17 percent and 7 percent respectively.

The tobacco sector in Spain

Spain produced approximately 29.7 thousand metric tons of tobacco in 2017, although this figure is far off the 40.3 thousand metric tons registered in 2005. Tobacco crops in Spain amounted to nearly 8.8 thousand hectares in 2018, mainly located in the inland autonomous community of Extremadura. This figure too dwindled over the recent years, with approximately 13 thousand hectares registered in 2005. The number of tobacco manufacturers maintained steadily over the past ten years, with 46 companies active in the tobacco sector in 2017.