Donegal's €50m cigarette bill: The true cost of the smoking habit
Analysis of Census 2022 figures estimates daily smokers in the county would spend €3,741 a year each if they smoke 10 cigarettes a day at the new price of €20.50 per pack.
Daily smokers in Donegal will spend an estimated €50.6 million a year on cigarettes following the Budget’s €1 increase in cigarette prices, according to an analysis of census figures by UK online vape retailer Ecigone.
The 2022 census recorded 13,521 daily smokers aged 15 and over in Donegal, representing 10.2% of the population in that age group. Based on the new price of €20.50 for a pack of 20 cigarettes, smoking 10 cigarettes a day would cost an estimated €3,741 per person a year.
Collectively, that would amount to approximately €50.6 million a year, equivalent to around €380 for every person aged 15 and over in Donegal when averaged across the entire population, including non-smokers.
Donegal ranked 24th out of the 26 counties for the proportion of daily smokers recorded in Census 2022. Its rate of 10.2% was below the national figure of 10.9%.
At the new price, smoking 10 cigarettes a day costs approximately €3,741 a year, up from €3,559 before the increase. Someone smoking 20 cigarettes a day would spend around €7,483 annually, equivalent to €143.50 a week.The tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes now makes up over €16 of the price, costing €5,851 a year.
The analysis also highlights the potential impact on people on lower incomes. Across Ireland, a full-time worker earning the new minimum wage of €14.94 an hour who smokes 10 cigarettes a day would pay an estimated €2,925 annually in cigarette taxes, compared with an estimated €1,810 income tax bill.
The Budget also provides for an increase of €10 a week in the State pension and other core social welfare payments from January. However, a pensioner smoking 20 cigarettes a day would face an estimated additional €7 a week in cigarette costs following the October price increase.
Shane Margereson, founder of Ecigone, said the annual cost of smoking could be substantial even for those who smoked relatively modest amounts.
“Ten a day used to be what people said when they were cutting down. At €20.50 a pack it now comes to more than €3,700 a year,” he said.
The €50.6 million figure is an estimate rather than a measure of actual cigarette sales in Donegal. The calculation assumes every person recorded as a daily smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day and buys them at €20.50 per pack of 20. Actual spending will vary depending on consumption, brands and whether people use other tobacco products, including roll-your-own tobacco.
The figures were calculated using Central Statistics Office data from Census 2022, which was the first Irish census to ask people whether they smoked. The census took place in April 2022, and the proportion of people who did not answer the smoking question varied between areas.
The CSO’s Irish Health Survey 2025 subsequently put the national daily smoking rate among people aged 15 and over at 11.9%, although it did not provide comparable county-level figures.
The analysis covers people who smoke tobacco products and excludes e-cigarette users from the figures.
Anyone who wants help to stop smoking can access the HSE’s free QUIT service, which provides support and advice for people trying to give up cigarettes.