wiiw-led Tobacco Taxation Network introduces new focus areas at biannual workshop
14 May 2025
Since its launch in 2024, the network has produced a dozen publications across seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe in addition to helping inform two legislative changes last year. Now it is focusing on alternative tobacco products and the impact of smoking on household budgets
image credit: wiiw
On 8-9 May 2025, the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) hosted its biannual workshop for the Tobacco Taxation in Eastern Europe research network in Vienna. Established and co-managed by our researchers Nora Kungl, Biljana Jovanovikj and Kristijan Fidanovski under the guidance of wiiw Senior Research Associate Hana Ross, the network is now in its second year and covers eight Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria (Institute for Economic Studies), Georgia (Institute of Public Affairs), Kosovo (Riinvest), Poland (Institute for Structural Research), Romania (Aspen), Serbia (Institute for Economic Sciences), Turkey (Marmara University) and Ukraine (Kyiv School of Economics and Centre for Economic Strategy).
The workshop served a dual purpose: to summarise the key lessons learned in 2024 and to introduce the focus areas for 2025, offering each partner country an opportunity to receive valuable feedback on their preliminary research hypotheses and proposed empirical strategies.
In 2024, our network produced seven landscape studies outlining key trends in tobacco consumption and tax policy in these seven countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which share in common a high proportion of smokers among the general population. In addition, five research studies examined specific aspects of tobacco use – including illicit trade, youth initiation, and the income and price elasticities of tobacco demand. In five of the seven countries participating in the network in 2024 (Kosovo joined in 2025), these research outputs were accompanied by policy events presenting the findings to academic and policy-making audiences, including representatives from national ministries of finance and prominent international organisations.
Two of the countries, Poland and Ukraine, saw legislative changes in tobacco taxation informed by the knowledge-dissemination efforts of the network, including an in-house wiiw modelling study published last summer.
In 2025, our network aims to deepen the understanding of several topics addressed in 2024, including by expanding its focus to Kosovo. We are also pursuing two new avenues of research. First, we seek to gain a better understanding of the socioeconomic dimension of smoking by examining the relationship between tobacco expenditure and spending on other household items, such as food, housing and transport. Second, in line with the most significant current trend in the tobacco landscape, we are exploring the nature and drivers of consumption of heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes. This includes an analysis of self-reported consumer preferences and the pricing strategies employed by the tobacco industry, with special emphasis on the role of taxation.
The Tobacco Taxation in Eastern Europe research network is part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.