Malta is not a great country for drinkers, smokers or vapers, at least in theory. It was one of the first countries in the world to ban smoking indoors (in 2004) and the legislation was toughened up in 2013 to make it among Europe’s most draconian ‘smoke-free’ laws. In practice, the ban is widely ignored except in restaurants. Smoking (and vaping) in cars with passengers aged under 18 was banned in January 2017 with fines of €50.

Alcohol commercials cannot be broadcast before 9pm and there is a total ban on tobacco and e-cigarette advertising. There is no excise tax on vape juice and cross-border sales of e-cigarettes are legal.

Vaping is relatively common in Malta, but there has been confusion about whether e-cigarettes, which are regulated as tobacco products on the island, are banned in public places. Some health groups have claimed that they are but, in 2015, a woman who had been fined €233 for vaping in an enclosed place had her conviction overturned on appeal. The court confirmed that the smoking ban only applies to tobacco products, not e-cigarettes.

Tobacco duty is high but taxes on beer and spirits are about average for an EU country. A tax on wine was introduced for the first time in 2015, at a rate of €0.15 per bottle. In 2018, Malta reduced its drink-driving limit to the EU average of 0.05g of alcohol per litre of blood. It is one of only two EU countries to have a prohibition on heat-not-burn tobacco products.