Italy: two cigarette price rises in 2027, in January and in July

In Italy, tobacco prices will go up twice in 2027. According to the ANSA news agency, the draft budget for 2027, approved by the Council of Ministers on 28 October 2026, brings forward by six months the cigarette excise rise planned for 2028. The fixed part of the excise would thus reach €38.50 per 1,000 cigarettes from 1 July 2027.

The January rise is already law: budget law no. 199 of 30 December 2025 set the rates from 2026 to 2028 (the 1 January 2027 rises in Europe). The July one still has to be voted: the bill will be sent to Parliament in early November, which has until 31 December 2026 to pass it.

Two rises in six months

The Italian excise on cigarettes has two parts: a fixed amount per 1,000 cigarettes and a percentage of the retail price. The 2026 budget law raises the fixed part every year and slightly lowers the percentage: 49.23% in 2026, 48.50% in 2027, 48% in 2028. It also sets a minimum for excise plus VAT of €221 per 1,000 cigarettes in 2027, then €227 in 2028. It is not yet known whether these two 2028 rates are brought forward too.

How much a pack will cost in 2027

The technical report of the 2026 budget law puts the average rise at about 15 cents per pack in 2026, 25 cents in 2027 and 40 cents from 2028, compared with 2025 prices. Bringing the 2028 step forward therefore adds about 15 cents per pack from July 2027.

A pack of Marlboro costs €6.80 in 2026 according to the official list of the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM). Using the technical report's method, where the manufacturer and the tobacconist (10% of the price) keep the same revenue per pack, it would go to about €6.90 in January 2027, then about €7 in July, or €7.14 if only the fixed part is brought forward.

This is a floor, because each manufacturer sets its own price. In 2026, Marlboro went from €6.50 to €6.80, while the technical report put the rise needed for a €6.50 pack at 14 cents. Excise and VAT already account for about €5.21 of a €6.80 pack, or 77% of the price.

Still half the price of France

Even at €7, Italy would remain one of the cheapest countries in Western Europe. Marlboro costs half as much there as in France (€13.50), less than in Germany (€9.40) or Switzerland (CHF 9.70), and as much as in Austria (€7); only Spain does better, at €6.25. Our France against Italy comparison tracks the gap brand by brand.

The price of each product is set by the manufacturer and published by the ADM: it is the same in every tobacconist in the country. When returning to another EU country, the guide level remains 800 cigarettes per person, for personal use and carried by yourself (our customs guide).

Other tobacco products too

• Rolling tobacco: minimum excise of €165.50 per kilo in 2027 (€161.50 in 2026), and 60.9% of the retail price (60.7%).
• Heated tobacco: 41% of the excise on an equivalent quantity of cigarettes (40.5% in 2026).
• E-cigarette liquids: 20% of that benchmark with nicotine (18% in 2026), 15% without nicotine (13%).

According to the technical report, this timetable was to bring in €465.8 million more in 2027 and €796.9 million in 2028, of which €371.2 million and €637.2 million from cigarettes, whose excise yields about €12.4 billion a year. The government has not yet costed the six-month advance.

Price remains one of the best-documented levers against smoking (our analysis), and our stop smoking guide lists the methods that work. In Italy, the Telefono Verde contro il Fumo of the National Institute of Health (ISS) answers free of charge on 800 554 088; in France, Tabac Info Service answers on 39 89.

Sources

• Law no. 199 of 30 December 2025: rates from 2026 to 2028.
• Chamber of Deputies, costing check no. 414, p. 162 to 169: technical report, revenue and effect on prices.
• Council of Ministers press release no. 195, 28 October 2026: approval of the 2027 draft budget.
• ANSA, 29 October 2026: 2028 rise brought forward to 1 July 2027.
• ADM: price breakdown and retail prices.
• National Institute of Health, Telefono Verde contro il Fumo.