Tobacco products: the black market is growing again

GfK Hungária’s latest study reveals that illegal tobacco product trade is becoming more and more widespread. According to official data, in 2011 total revenue from tobacco product sales was HUF 500-510 billion in Hungary. HUF 287.2 billion was paid to the central budget as excise duty and HUF 96.5 billion as VAT. The size of the market has been stagnating or shrinking since 2007, but the industry’s contribution to the state budget kept growing.

In 2012 the proportion of foreign or counterfeit tobacco products started growing again after years of decrease. So far Szabolcs-Szatmár Bereg, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Hajdú-Bihar counties have been most contaminated by illegal trading but gradually Csongrád, Bács-Kiskun and Tolna are becoming the new centres of illegal tobacco products.