Prices for tobacco and nicotine products in Switzerland

Many products for the consumption of tobacco and nicotine are available on the Swiss market. Nevertheless, conventional cigarettes are not losing their appeal and are still the product with the largest market share. Comparisons among product classes are difficult but necessary, as prices can have a significant impact on consumption. Cigarettes are generally already very cheap in Switzerland, especially by international comparison. They are even cheaper compared to certain new products, such as those with heated tobacco. Other new products, such as electronic cigarettes, on the other hand, are much cheaper for the same nicotine consumption. The various products are taxed very differently, making accurate insights difficult to get. Tobacco heating systems such as IQOS are taxed at a low rate (only 12%), while tobacco-free nicotine products have not been taxed at all so far (e-cigarettes and tobacco-free snus).

Price comparison between a packet of cigarettes and other products

In the following table, we have listed the costs of other products for comparison, based on a pack of conventional cigarettes of a common, average-priced brand from a supermarket, i.e. Bay cigarettes from Coop, in each case based on the nicotine equivalent of a 20-pack of cigarettes.

Price comparison between a packet of cigarettes and other products (AT Schweiz)

These products are taxed in very different ways. ENDS are currently not taxed at all, whereas conventional cigarettes are taxed at the highest rate, even though overall taxation in Switzerland is very low. The industry can afford to vary the prices of different products at will in order to maximise profit margins. HTP systems today yield much higher profits than cigarettes with their already enormous profit margins. And with ENDS, profits are astronomical.

HTP systems are positioned as a relatively expensive luxury product, with a price in line with cigarette brands in the top price segment. Cigarillos and cigars are also expensive compared to cigarettes, but these products are smoked in a different way; moreover, cigars are usually consumed alongside other products. Conventional cigarettes and snus are positioned within the same price range for the same consumption (often around CHF 8.-, but sometimes much cheaper). ENDS are generally cheaper than cigarettes, but consumption patterns are very different, and while a cigarette that is smoked to the end is thrown away, an ENDS can often be further hyperventilated with nicotine. Finally, it should be mentioned again that roll-your-own tobacco is the cheapest way to smoke.

Cigarettes

Conventional cigarettes are still the most popular tobacco product. In 2020, 9.3 billion cigarettes were sold in Switzerland, an increase of 4% compared to 2019 consumption. [i] That is more than 465 million packs of 20 cigarettes. Determining the exact cost of a packet of cigarettes is quite difficult. Prices generally range from CHF 3.50 (for certain special promotions) to CHF 9.50 (upper price segment or premium brands). We often hear about a so-called "reference" price of CHF 8.80 (in 2020) used by the Federal Customs Administration, which corresponds to the indicative price of one of the best-selling brands. However, this is by no means an average price. The k kiosk website had an average price of CHF 7.41 for the stamps available there (when purchased in boxes of 30 or 40 packs). However cheaper cigarettes can easily be found, e.g. the Bay brand, developed by Coop for young people, at a price of CHF 6.95, or – also at Coop – the entry-level brand "5.50", whose price is already obvious from the name. In the same supermarket chain, there are constant special promotions with a 50% discount on certain brands, so that a pack can easily be purchased for as little as CHF 3.50.

Loose tobacco pouches

Consumers who want to spend even less buy loose tobacco in pouches or tins and roll their own cigarettes (this is known as "Roll-Your-Own", RYO). One roll-your-own cigarette requires about 0.5 g of tobacco. A 120-gram tin of American Blend Fine Cut Tobacco from Coop costs CHF 17.95 and lasts for up to 240 cigarettes, which corresponds to a unit price (not including cigarette paper and any filters, which are sold separately) of CHF 0.07 per cigarette. If you also add cigarette paper and filters, the price comes to around CHF 0.10. Compared to rolling your own cigarettes, cigarettes from a pack of 20 cost CHF 8.-, i.e. a unit price of CHF 0.40, four times as much. Compared to other products, this is the cheapest way to smoke and therefore most common among people with modest incomes and most popular among young people.

Snus

Snus cans cost between CHF 8.- and CHF 10.-. A can usually contains 24 pouches, resulting in a unit price of CHF 0.33-0.41 per pouch. At k kiosk, a tin of "Siberia -80°C Red White Dry 13 mg", a brand that has a very high nicotine content of 43 mg/g, is offered for CHF 8.90 per tin (CHF 6.94 per tin when buying 10 tins).

Recently, nicotine-free snus have also appeared on the market. [i] These small pouches are sold with different flavourings and are very popular among young people. On the Swiss market, we find brands such as Zyn (for which a very aggressive advertising campaign targeting young people is ongoing), then a BAT product marketed under three different names: Epok, Lyft, or more recently – at Coop or on special websites such as Velo – Nordic Spirit (Coop), Xrange, etc.Several hundred tobacco and nicotine products are currently on the Swiss market. The content of nicotine and toxic substances varies considerably among the different brands. In the case of Zyn, the nicotine content can be up to 6 mg per pouch. Prices vary, but cans can be purchased for less than CHF 5.-. In a Swiss online shop that offers more than 120 different snus, you can buy a tin of "Nordic Spirit Smooth Mint Slim All White" (the name alone says it all) for CHF 8.58; if you buy 10, 40 or 100 tins at the same time, as is usually the case with online purchases, the prices drop drastically. Thus, for 100 cans, the unit price is CHF 4.81. On the Coop website, a single box of snus is offered at a price between CHF 8.- and CHF 10.-. On the k kiosk website, a tin of Velo Easy Mint Mini (18 pouches) is sold for CHF 8.-, and with 10 tins you get the tin for the unit price of only CHF 6.24.

Cigarillos and cigars

A relatively widely available product is the cigarillo, which costs slightly more than a cigarette. In general, a cigarillo costs between CHF 0.48 and CHF 0.62, depending on the brand. When buying 10 boxes of 18 "Al Capone Pockets Filter Sweet Cognac" at Coop, the unit price is CHF 0.48. Unlike cigarettes, there is no minimum number of pieces per pack for cigarillos, so that packs of only five or 10 are also available on the market. Small packs are automatically cheaper, which encourages consumption by people on low incomes.

For cigars, on the other hand, the price range is extremely broad, with entry-level products also available at prices of around CHF 8.50 per piece. Further up the scale, the cigar then becomes a luxury product, with prices that can easily exceed CHF 100.- for a single cigar.

Products with heated tobacco (Heated Tobacco Products, HTP)

Tobacco heaters are loaded with small cigarettes made of tobacco (tobacco sticks), which are heated to temperatures close to 350 °C and evaporated in the process. Contrary to the tobacco industry's claims, these products are no less harmful to health than conventional tobacco products. The industry boasts of their supposed technological innovation, but in fact they are simply devices consisting of a plastic casing, a rechargeable battery, a heating blade and tobacco sticks, the latter being evaporated by heating to 350 °C to form a tobacco aerosol. The real innovation in these products is the electronics, which enables Philip Morris International (PMI) to directly and continuously collect data on users' tobacco consumption via Bluetooth.[i] The market-leading product in Switzerland is the IQOS from PMI. To smoke with the IQOS, both the IQOS device and the mini-cigarettes, which PMI has christened "Heets", must be purchased. IQOS devices can be found in shops for CHF 99.00 each (IQOS 3 Duo Kit, as of 04.10.2021), but more luxurious and expensive models are also available, for example a model for use at home (Collector's Home Edition at CHF 199.00) or a model for use in the car (Collector's Car Edition at CHF 128.-). A pack of Heets usually costs CHF 8.00 and contains 20 mini-cigarettes; one Heet therefore costs CHF 0.40. With ILUMA, the new version of the IQOS, which was launched on the Swiss market on 2 November 2021 and about whose functioning or new health risks we know practically nothing, the cigarettes contain a core in the form of a thin, sharp metal blade that is heated by induction. These new "Terea" cigarettes, which are only compatible with ILUMA devices, are priced identically to the Heets.