In the fourth quarter of this year, 39 per cent of cigarette packets found in the rubbish came from abroad, and around 5 per cent were counterfeit, according to research by WSPM for the tobacco industry. This represents an increase on the previous year, when 25 per cent of empty packs came from abroad. Researchers analysed 7,000 empty packs they found in waste and rubbish bins. “Smokers aren’t quitting; instead, they’re sourcing cigarettes from legal foreign markets or smugglers,” Jan Hein Sträter, director of the tobacco industry lobby group VSK, told Nu.nl. Foreign cigarette packs were most often found in border areas such as Zuid-Limburg, Noord-Brabant and the Achterhoek.

Despite the shift to other sources, the treasury still collects more through tobacco taxes, according to the national statistics agency CBS. In 2023, tobacco tax brought in EUR 3.1 billion, compared to EUR 2.6 billion in 2019.



However, there are indications that revenues in 2024 will fall short of the government’s targets by EUR 500 million, as RTL has already reported. And in November, the VSK put the total revenue shortfall at around EUR 2.3 billion.