Australia has some of the highest cigarette prices in the world. If you've noticed the cost creeping up year after year, you're not imagining it — the biggest driver is the federal tobacco excise, a tax applied to every stick and every gram of tobacco.
What makes up the price
The shelf price of a pack is a combination of the product cost, the tobacco excise, GST, and the retailer's margin. Excise is by far the largest single component, which is why two similar packs rarely differ much in price and why cheaper brands still aren't cheap.
The excise is indexed and reviewed periodically, so the tax portion generally trends upward over time rather than down.
Ways to keep your spend down
- Buy by the carton. Per-pack pricing is usually lower when you buy a carton instead of single packs.
- Compare brands. Value brands can cost noticeably less than premium names for a similar format.
- Consider roll-your-own. Many people find the cost per cigarette is lower with rolling tobacco — see our Rolling Tobacco Guide.
- Buy online. Online stores like ours carry lower overheads than a corner shop, which we pass on as lower prices.
Buy genuine, duty-paid product
Only buy from retailers that sell genuine, duty-paid tobacco. Illicit "chop-chop" or unbranded tobacco is illegal in Australia and its quality is unknown. Everything we sell is genuine product.
