Sweden drops a couple of places in this year’s Nanny State Index as a result of Iceland and Norway being added to the league table. This masks the unfortunate fact that Sweden has become significantly less liberal since the last edition was published.

Sweden has relatively high alcohol taxes even after adjusting for income, and, like most Nordic nations, its alcohol retail industry is a state monopoly. Alcohol advertising is completely banned on television and radio. Drinks with more than 15 per cent alcohol cannot be advertised in print. Outdoor alcohol advertising is also prohibited and all tobacco advertising is banned. Since 1991, all television advertising that is perceived to be aimed at children aged under 12 has been illegal and no advertising can be shown before, during or after programmes aimed at children.

Cigarette taxes are surprisingly low in Sweden after adjusting for income, but heated tobacco products are taxed at 1,957 krona per kilogram (€181), one of the highest rates in the EU. Sweden is the only EU country in which snus can be legally bought thanks to an exemption it negotiated when joining the EU in 1995. It now has a much lower smoking rate than any other European country (at just seven per cent compared to the EU average of 23 per cent).

Although the Swedish experience with snus is a prime example of tobacco harm reduction in action, the government has been less keen to encourage vaping. Sweden belatedly transposed the Tobacco Products Directive into law with the Act on Electronic Cigarettes and Refill Containers (2017/425), effective from 1 July 2017. This ended a period of accidental laissez-faire which began in February 2016 when the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that e-cigarettes were not medical products and therefore could not be regulated – and effectively banned – by the Medical Product Agency.

The new law bans all e-cigarette sponsorship, but permits cross-border sales, internet sales and indoor vaping. Selling vape juice with a nicotine content greater than 1.7mg/ml requires a licence. In July 2018, a tax on e-cigarette fluid of two krona (€0.21) per ml came into effect. Visitors should note that the tax-free allowance for anybody entering the country is just 20ml of fluid (and 200g of heated tobacco). Worst of all, an indoor vaping ban was passed in December 2018 which applies to all places where smoking is banned.

Sweden’s smoking ban allows for designated smoking rooms in all workplaces, bars and restaurants. New legislation introduced in July 2020 banned smoking in playgrounds, train stations, on patios, outside restaurants and bars, and at the entrance of public venues. Vaping is included in all these restrictions. There is no ban on cigarette vending machines, no retail display ban and no plain packaging (the government has said that the latter would be unconstitutional).

With thanks to Timbro

About

The Nanny State Index (NSI) is a league table of the worst places in Europe to eat, drink, smoke and vape. The initiative was launched in March 2016 and was a media hit right across Europe. It is masterminded and led by IEA’s Christopher Snowdon with partners from all over Europe.

Enquiries: info@epicenternetwork.eu

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Previous version: 2019

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About the Editor

Christopher Snowdon is the head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs. His research focuses on lifestyle freedoms, prohibition and policy-based evidence. He is a regular contributor to the Spectator, Telegraph and Spiked and often appears on TV and radio discussing social and economic issues.

Snowdon’s work encompasses a diverse range of topics including ‘sin taxes’, state funding of charities, happiness economics, ‘public health’ regulation, gambling and the black market. Recent publications include ‘Drinking, Fast and Slow’, ‘The Proof of the Pudding: Denmark’s Fat Tax Fiasco’, ‘A Safer Bet’, and ‘You Had One Job’. He is also the author of ‘Killjoys’ (2017), ‘Selfishness, Greed and Capitalism’ (2015), ‘The Art of Suppression’ (2011), ‘The Spirit Level Delusion’ (2010), ‘Velvet Glove, Iron Fist’ (2009).


Sweden 2021

Sweden drops a couple of places in this year’s Nanny State Index as a result of Iceland and Norway being added to the league table. This masks the unfortunate fact that Sweden has become significantly less liberal since the last edition was published.

Sweden has relatively high alcohol taxes even after adjusting for income, and, like most Nordic nations, its alcohol retail industry is a state monopoly. Alcohol advertising is completely banned on television and radio. Drinks with more than 15 per cent alcohol cannot be advertised in print. Outdoor alcohol advertising is also prohibited and all tobacco advertising is banned. Since 1991, all television advertising that is perceived to be aimed at children aged under 12 has been illegal and no advertising can be shown before, during or after programmes aimed at children.

Cigarette taxes are surprisingly low in Sweden after adjusting for income, but heated tobacco products are taxed at 1,957 krona per kilogram (€181), one of the highest rates in the EU. Sweden is the only EU country in which snus can be legally bought thanks to an exemption it negotiated when joining the EU in 1995. It now has a much lower smoking rate than any other European country (at just seven per cent compared to the EU average of 23 per cent).

Although the Swedish experience with snus is a prime example of tobacco harm reduction in action, the government has been less keen to encourage vaping. Sweden belatedly transposed the Tobacco Products Directive into law with the Act on Electronic Cigarettes and Refill Containers (2017/425), effective from 1 July 2017. This ended a period of accidental laissez-faire which began in February 2016 when the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that e-cigarettes were not medical products and therefore could not be regulated – and effectively banned – by the Medical Product Agency.

The new law bans all e-cigarette sponsorship, but permits cross-border sales, internet sales and indoor vaping. Selling vape juice with a nicotine content greater than 1.7mg/ml requires a licence. In July 2018, a tax on e-cigarette fluid of two krona (€0.21) per ml came into effect. Visitors should note that the tax-free allowance for anybody entering the country is just 20ml of fluid (and 200g of heated tobacco). Worst of all, an indoor vaping ban was passed in December 2018 which applies to all places where smoking is banned.

Sweden’s smoking ban allows for designated smoking rooms in all workplaces, bars and restaurants. New legislation introduced in July 2020 banned smoking in playgrounds, train stations, on patios, outside restaurants and bars, and at the entrance of public venues. Vaping is included in all these restrictions. There is no ban on cigarette vending machines, no retail display ban and no plain packaging (the government has said that the latter would be unconstitutional).

With thanks to Timbro

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