Cigarette Prices in the Netherlands (2026)
⚠️ Customs Rules and Transport Limits
Within the EU: up to 800 cigarettes for personal use. From a non-EU country: 200 cigarettes.
🌍 Overview
| Brands | Average Price | Reliability |
|---|---|---|
| Marlboro | 13.50 € | Medium reliability |
| Winston | 11.80 € | Medium reliability |
| Camel | 13.00 € | Medium reliability |
| Lucky Strike | 12.50 € | Medium reliability |
| L&M | 12.50 € | Medium reliability |
| Chesterfield | 12.30 € | Medium reliability |
| Gauloises | 12.50 € | Medium reliability |
| Pall Mall | 11.80 € | Medium reliability |
| Davidoff | 13.20 € | Medium reliability |
| West | 11.22 € | Low reliability · estimate |
| JPS (John Player Special) | 11.80 € | Medium reliability |
High reliability: official primary source or verifiable trade press. Medium: price rebuilt from confirmed data points, or surveyed at a retailer or in the press. Low: extrapolated. "Estimate": price not surveyed for this brand, calculated from that of Marlboro, the country's reference brand.
Average pack price over time
Average across all brands we track in this country, by year.
📋 Tobacco Regulation & Policy
💰 Tax regime
Dutch cigarettes carry a specific excise plus a small ad valorem component, with a high minimum excise that roughly doubled from about €191.28 per 1,000 sticks in 2019 to €390.42 per 1,000 in April 2024 (about €7.81 per 20-pack, per CBS). Together with 21% VAT, taxes make up roughly 80-85% of the retail price.
📈 Price policy
Under the National Prevention Agreement (a “smoke-free generation” by 2040), the government imposed large April excise hikes in 2023 (pack to about €9.00) and 2024 (20-pack to about €11.10). No major new excise increase followed in 2025-2026 amid concerns over cross-border buying, after tobacco excise revenue fell 15% in 2025 (CBS).
At the statutory minimum wage, a pack of Marlboro takes 54 minutes of work in the Netherlands. Compare with other countries
🏛️ Key legislative milestones
In 2020, the Netherlands introduced plain (standardized) packaging for cigarettes, stripped of brand logos and colours. The April 2020 excise hike added about €1 per pack, taking Marlboro to around €8.
From 1 January 2022, the sale of cigarettes through vending machines was banned in the Netherlands, closing off a channel that was difficult to keep out of reach of minors.
In April 2023, an excise hike of €1.22 per pack took a 20-pack to about €9, and from July 2023 online and webshop tobacco sales were banned.
A major excise hike on 1 April 2024 raised a 20-pack from about €9.00 to about €11.10. From 1 July 2024, supermarkets (previously about 55% of tobacco sales) were banned from selling tobacco.
In September 2026, the government planned no excise increase for 2027: the minimum tax stays at €7.81 per pack, as the Ministry of Finance expects a further rise to be wiped out by changes in smokers' behaviour. According to CBS, tobacco excise revenue fell from €3.1 billion in 2023 to €2.6 billion in 2025.
📰 Netherlands: news and guides
NewsNetherlands: more than half of smokers buy tobacco abroad
Dutch tobacco excise has doubled since 2020, yet its revenue fell 15% in 2025: more than half of smokers now buy abroad. Prices compared and customs rules.
NewsTobacco prices on 1 January 2027: what changes in Europe, country by country
Increases passed in Germany, Italy and Poland, rates frozen in the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain: what laws and budgets have in store for tobacco prices in 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Cite this data
Free to reuse with credit to the source.
Schmitt, B. (2026). Cigarette Prices in the Netherlands (2026). cigprices.com. https://cigprices.com/en/pays/pays-bas (data last updated 23 October 2026). License CC BY 4.0.
Data & sources
Last updated :
Methodology : Most brands' prices are surveyed at retailers or in dated price lists: this is the price printed on the tax stamp, the only selling price allowed. Years with no survey are estimated from Marlboro and the brand's surveyed gap, and marked "estimate".
Main sources (8)
- monsieurvintage.com (FR, Marlboro, 2000-2025, DGDDI)
- mylasertabac.com (EU, 2025-11)
- travel-europe.info (EU, 2026)
- andorratools.com (AD, 2026)
- ADII, Administration des Douanes et Impôts Indirects (MA, 2025)
- WHO Global Tobacco Report 2015 (TN, Marlboro)
- Statista (ES, Marlboro, 2007-2022)
- ONS, RPI timeseries CZMP (UK)
Provided for informational purposes only. Verify with official sources for any critical use.