With Budget 2017 increasing the price of cigarettes by 50c, Ireland is now one of the most expensive countries in the world to buy tobacco.

At €11 for a packet, Ireland is the second dearest country in Europe to purchase cigarettes – with Norway being the highest at €12.

However, there are some countries in the world where you can get a packet of Marlboro cigarettes for less than €1.

In the Ukraine, you can buy a 20 packet of Marlboro for €0.85 cent, while in Moldova you can get them for €0.95 and in Belarus for €0.94.

Expatistan, the website which compares the cost of living in thousands of cities all over the world, also reveals the price of Marlboro cigarettes in the following countries:

Country Price France €7.00 Malta €5.30 Spain €4.91 Greece €3.96 Poland €3.56 Croatia €3.38 Turkey €3.23 Latvia €3.13 Albania €2.12 Russia €1.61

Irish smokers once again feel hard done by the Budget, with the price of cigarettes increasing by €1 over the last year.

Smokers’ rights group, Forest Ireland, has come out and said that the only people who benefit from a hike in cigarette prices are criminals.

Their spokesman John Mallon yesterday said:

“The price increase is great news for the criminal classes because they will sell more and more tobacco now as a result. It’s a product in demand.

“In Brussels, the price of 20 cigarettes is €5. In Dublin, it’s now going to be €11. We’re completely out of step with our European counterparts. We have the most expensive cigarettes in the EU. That’s not a boast. The Government should be ashamed of themselves.”

He further added that increasing the price will not deter people from smoking.

“You could raise the price of a small car to €150k but people would still drive cars. So you can raise the price of cigarettes, and people will still smoke. It’s that simple. Health is a private matter between ourselves and our GP. It has nothing to do with the Government,” he told the Evening Echo in Cork.

Online Editors