Turkey holds its place at the top of the Nanny State Index thanks to high scores in every category, heavy anti-alcohol regulation and a total ban on the sale of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. It towers over its rivals in the worst possible way.

Under the autocratic rule of the staunch teetotaller Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey has gone to war on alcohol and nicotine. E-cigarettes, snus and heated tobacco products are banned outright although a form of snuff (‘enfiye’) is legal and nicotine pouches are not explicitly banned. Cigarettes have to be sold in plain packaging, tobacco cannot be displayed in shops, and cigarette vending machines are prohibited.

Smoking is banned in all workplaces, bar and restaurants without exception, although the law is poorly enforced. Since 2019, smoking has been banned in all vehicles, even if nobody else is in them. All tobacco and alcohol advertising is prohibited by law and even depicting alcohol and cigarette consumption on television is forbidden by the regulator.

Bars and restaurants can serve alcohol 24 hours a day but the drinks are highly taxed. Turkey’s raft of sin taxes might seem modest to foreign tourists but once adjusted for average incomes, they are highly punitive. Even in cash terms, its taxes on beer, wine and spirits and higher than those in countries such as France and Spain. In early 2022, with inflation soaring, Turkey’s ‘Special Consumption Tax’ increased the duty on alcoholic drinks and tobacco products by 47 per cent overnight in 2022.There was a further hike of 13% in January 2025.

The sale of energy drinks is banned to people under the age of 18. Although Turkey does not have a sugary drinks tax as such, it levies the standard rate of VAT (20%) on sugary and artificially sweetened drinks rather than the lower rate of 10% levied on other soft drinks.

With thanks to Çağın T. Eroğlu and İsrafil Özkan, Freedom Research Association