The black market for tobacco products in Greece reaches 25%, according to a new EPICENTER report published by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFiM). The study focuses on the connection between taxation and illegal trade, highlighting that excessive tax increases on tobacco products at the European level significantly boost the black market.
Specifically, for every additional euro added to tobacco prices due to taxation, the percentage of illegal trade increases by 5-12%. This results in the expected increase in public revenue not being achieved, while simultaneously strengthening criminal networks operating in the trafficking of illegal tobacco products.
Black market for tobacco products in Greece reaches 25%
More specifically, Greece “records the fourth highest percentage (25%) of black market counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products among the countries in the study. This high percentage is not exclusively due to the price level of tobacco products and their affordability, meaning the relationship between their price and citizens’ income,” the report estimates, citing other possible factors such as “tax culture, the inability of state institutions, ineffectiveness in law enforcement, border permeability, as well as proximity to countries with lower prices.”
