THE PRICE OF a packet of cigarettes is to increase by €1 from tomorrow in measures announced in Budget 2025.

It will bring the price of the most popular category of cigarettes to €18.05. The excise duty hike is two times the usual increase of 50c.

Increases will kick in on a pro-rata basis for other tobacco products from midnight. It is the second time a higher-than-usual increase has been announced, as last year prices increased by 75c.

Excise duties for cigarettes generally increase annually for public health reasons.

A tax on e-cigarettes will also be introduced from the middle of next year. The excise will place a fee on e-liquid at a rate of 50c for every millilitre of liquid.

The average disposable e-cigarette has 2ml of e-liquid and costs €8. The introduction of the new tax will increase the cost to €9.23.

Announcing the new tax, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said it was not possible to introduce the fee this year due to operational and administrative challenges.

‘This will impact quit-smoking campaigns’

Lobby group ‘Respect Vapers’ has said the Government should not introduce the charge, accusing politicians of attempting to “raise funds on vapes rather than helping people use vapes to quit smoking”.

The group pointed to a recent report by Healthy Ireland that said 25% of smokers who quit had used vapes and other studies that show the number of smokers in Ireland has reduced drastically in recent years.

“Increased taxes on vaping could negatively affect the Tobacco Free Ireland programme,” the group said. “Without the contribution vaping has made in helping people, the percentage of people smoking would be up still in the mid-20s.”

‘This will have a long-term health benefits’

The Irish Heart Foundation has welcomed both increases and said they will have long-term health benefits and it hopes will deter younger people from taking up vaping.

“The new tax specifically targeting e-cigarettes is particularly important given the explosion of youth vaping in Ireland and fears they represent a gateway into smoking for a new generation,” director of advocacy Chris Macey said.

Macey added that it was “unfortunate” that there would be a delay to the introduction of the tax on vaping. He said the higher increase for cigarettes was a mark of the role tax policy plays in reducing smoking rates.