The Baltic countries led in the EU in terms of illegal cigarettes consumption, which was most rampant in Latvia (30.7 percent of the total consumption). Estonia was third with 19.7 percent, according to the annual survey carried out on behalf of Philip Morris International, the European Commission, and 27 Member States.
As estimated by KPMG, black market sales of cigarettes in the EU rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2012 and amounted to 65.5 billion cigarettes, or 11.1 percent of the market, which was equal to the legal market in France and Portugal combined. As a result, EU member states lost around 12.5 billion euros in tax revenues.
Lithuania’s data used in the survey is based on estimates by the Free Market Institute that the budget last year lost 319 million litas (EUR 92.46m) in excise duties and VAT due to cigarette smuggling.
