One in ten cigarettes smoked in Belgium is illegal, according to a KPMG study commissioned by tobacco company Philip Morris. Over 20% of the illegal cigarettes on the Belgian market come from Bulgaria.
Illegal cigarettes are either smuggled from other countries or counterfeit. The consumption of such cigarettes in Belgium doubled from 4.6% in 2021 to 9.8% in 2022, resulting therefore in one in ten cigarettes smoked in Belgium either being smuggled or counterfeit.
A pack of smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes is easily half the price of a regular pack. As a result, KPMG estimated the government will lose €250 million in excise duties and VAT.
The large influx of cigarettes smuggled from Bulgaria in 2022 is striking: over 20% of non-Belgian cigarettes on the market come from Bulgaria. Counterfeiting also rose sharply, from 70 million counterfeit cigarettes smoked in 2021, to 270 million in 2022.
Belgium has played a major role in the production of counterfeit cigarettes for years, mainly those destined for France and the UK. An illegal cigarette factory was busted in Heist-op-den-Berg just last week.
