Buying tobacco and other nicotine-containing products when travelling
You may bring tobacco and other nicotine products for personal use within certain limits without paying any duties. The amount you can bring duty-free depends on the type of product you are bringing and whether you are travelling to Sweden from an EU country or from a country outside the EU.
There are rules that apply regardless of where you bought the tobacco and nicotine products, and you must follow these rules.
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- The tobacco or other nicotine product must be for your own or your family's personal use.
- You must have purchased and be transporting the tobacco or nicotine products yourself.
The individual customs officer at the border will determine if the tobacco can reasonably be for personal use.
In another EU country
If you have purchased tobacco in another EU member state, you may bring an amount of tobacco that is for your or your family’s personal use.
Åland or Canary Islands
Åland and the Canary Islands belong to the EU but are outside the EU fiscal territory. This means that you can bring in the same duty-free amount as if you were travelling from a country outside the EU.
When you bring tobacco from these territories, you do not pay customs duty, but you have to pay VAT for that amount that exceeds the duty-free allowance.
When Swedish Customs assesses whether the tobacco is for your and your family's¹ personal use, we will take into account, among other things, the quantities set out in the Swedish Tobacco Tax Act:
- 800 cigarettes
- 400 cigarillos
- 200 cigars
- 1 kg of smoking tobacco
If you are carrying more tobacco than these quantities, it is up to you to prove that the quantity of tobacco is reasonable for your or your family's personal use. However, the quantity of tobacco is not the only factor in the customs officer's assessment of whether the tobacco is actually intended for your personal use. Swedish Customs will make an overall assessment of the circumstances.
Is the country part of the EU?
If you are unsure whether the country you are trading with is an EU Member State or not – here is a list of all EU countries.
In a country outside the EU
If you are resident in Sweden, you must have been abroad for at least 20 hours, or enter the country by commercial air transport, in order to bring tobacco into Sweden without paying duties.
If you have been abroad for less than 20 hours, you may bring 40 cigarettes or 20 cigars or cigarillos or 100 grams of other tobacco products. Other tobacco products include oral snuff (snus).
If you want to bring more than the duty-free amount, you must pay customs and excise duty. Present the goods to Swedish Customs by choosing the red channel at the border.
Declaring your goods to Swedish Customs
Tobacco
If you have purchased the tobacco you are bringing with you on your trip to Sweden in a country outside the EU, you may bring a certain amount with you to Sweden without paying any duties.
Any of the following:
- 200 cigarettes
- 100 cigarillos
- 50 cigars
- 250 g smoking tobacco
- 250 g other tobacco²
- a proportional selection of these tobacco products³.
E-liquid, oral snuff and other nicotine products
If you have purchased e-liquid, oral snuff or other nicotine products that you are bringing with you on your trip to Sweden from a country outside the EU, you may bring goods worth up to SEK 5,000 for those travelling by commercial air or ferry, and up to SEK 3,500 for other travellers. These value limits apply to the total amount of goods you have purchased during your trip and are taking home with you.
Tobacco tax and nicotine tax
You are liable to pay customs and excise duty for tobacco and nicotine products brought from countries outside the EU in excess of the duty-free quantity. For e-liquid and other nicotine products, you must pay excise duty on nicotine in addition to the duty-free allowance, even if you bring them in from another EU country.
Excise duty on tobacco – Swedish Tax Agency
Excise duty on nicotine goods – Swedish Tax Agency
Tobacco
- Cigarettes: customs duty SEK 0.34/unit and excise duty SEK 2.80/unit
- Cigars: customs duty SEK 0.86/unit and excise duty SEK 41.77/unit
- Smoking tobacco: customs duty SEK 428/kg and excise duty SEK 3,843/kg
- Other tobacco: customs duty SEK 428/kg and excise duty SEK 3,843/kg
- Oral snuff: customs duty SEK 104/kg, excise duty SEK 855/kg
E-liquid
- From countries outside the EU: customs duty SEK 320/litre and excise duty SEK 3,820/litre
- From other EU countries: excise duty SEK 2,087/litre
- Highly concentrated e-liquids from countries outside the EU: customs duty SEK 320/litre and excise duty SEK 6,240/litre
- Highly concentrated e-liquids from other EU countries : excise duty SEK 4,174/litre
Other nicotine containing products
- From countries outside the EU: customs duty SEK 390/kg and excise duty SEK 1,282/kg
- From other EU countries: excise duty SEK 209/kg
Definitions
¹ Family refers to close relatives with whom you share a household (for example, wife or husband). Swedish Customs refers to a judgement of the Court of Appeal of Skåne and Blekinge of 20 April 2006 (case number B2328-04). In the absence of a judgement from the Supreme Court, it is regarded as legal precedence.
² Other tobacco means tobacco which is not part of a living plant and which is not taxable as cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, smoking tobacco, oral snuff or chewing tobacco.
³ For example, a person entering the country may choose a smaller quantity of cigarettes in order to bring cigars duty-free (e.g. 100 cigarettes and 25 cigars).
Applicable provisions
Questions and answers
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You may bring e-cigarettes and e-liquids that you have purchased on your trip abroad if you have turned 18 years old. How much you can take with you depends on whether the product contains nicotine and in which country you have shopped.