Illegal tobacco is burning a $4 billion hole in Australia's hip pocket, with skyrocketing tobacco tax blamed for fuelling the underground trade and escalating violence.

Reports from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Australian Institute of Criminology lay bare the national scale and cost of serious and organised crime.

The direct and indirect cost of organised crime to Australia jumped to $82.3 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, up from $68.7 billion in 12 months.

Illicit tobacco's cost of the Australian economy was estimated to be $4 billion, a four-fold increase over the past three years.

Of that figure, $3.3 billion was as a result of lost tax revenue from the tobacco excise, with the rest from associated healthcare costs and reduced productivity.

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