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.
Permitted quantities
How much tobacco am I allowed to take home with me?
From an EU Member State
For your or your family’s¹ personal use.
From a country outside the EU
Any of the following:
- 200 cigarettes
- 100 cigarillos
- 50 cigars
- 250 g smoking tobacco
- 250 g other tobacco
- a proportional selection of these tobacco products³
Do I have to pay any duty on my tobacco?
From an EU Member State
No.
From a country outside the EU
Only if you want to bring more than the above amount.
How much oral snuff (snus) am I allowed to take home with me
From an EU Member State
For your or your family's¹ personal use.
From a country outside the EU
Up to a value of SEK 5,000 for those travelling by commercial air or ferry, and 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, including, for example, clothing and technical gadgets.
Example: If you are travelling home by air and have bought clothes worth SEK 3,000 on your trip, you can only bring home oral snuff worth SEK 2,000, as the total value of the items you are bringing home is SEK 5,000.
How much e-liquid containing nicotine can I take with me?
From an EU Member State
20 millilitres.
From a country outside the EU
Up to a value of SEK 5,000 for those travelling by commercial air or ferry, and 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.
What quantities of other nicotine-containing products (e.g. nicotine gum, nicotine pouches and nicotine spray) may I bring in?
From an EU Member State
200 grams.
From a country outside the EU
Up to a value of SEK 5,000 for those travelling by commercial air or ferry, and 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.
Do I need to pay any duty on e-liquid containing nicotine or other nicotine products?
From an EU Member State
Only if you want to bring more than the above amount.
From a country outside the EU
Only if you want to bring goods with a value higher than the limits above.
Buying tobacco in EU Member States
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.
Exceptions
If you buy tobacco in, for example, Åland or the Canary Islands (certain areas outside the EU's tax area), these are considered countries outside the EU. This means that if, for example, you buy goods in the duty-free shop on a ferry from Åland, the goods are exempt from customs duty, but not excise duty. This is because these territories belong to the EU's customs union but not its tax area.
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 Act²:
- 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.
Buying tobacco or other nicotine products in a country outside the EU
If you are resident in Sweden, you must have been abroad for more than 20 hours, or enter the country by commercial air transport, in order to bring tobacco into Sweden without paying duties.
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.
You may bring:
- 200 cigarettes, or
- 100 cigarillos, or
- 50 cigars, or
- 250 g smoking tobacco, or
- 250 g other tobacco, or
- a proportional selection of these tobacco products³.
E-liquid and other nicotine products
If you have purchased e-liquid and 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.
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 2,020/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 4,040/litre
Excise duty on nicotine goods – Swedish Tax Agency
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 202/kg
When you buy tobacco and other nicotine products from, for example, Åland or the Canary Islands, which are part of the EU customs area but not the EU tax area, the same rules apply as when you travel from countries outside the EU.
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 The quantities are set out in Chapter 2, Section 13, of the Tobacco tax Tax Act (2022:155).
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).
