The prices of cigarette packets on January 1 are due to be published in December for 12 million French smokers, but industry forecasts are counting on an average increase of between 40 and 50 cents. The government is due to present its new tobacco control strategy on Tuesday.
Bad news for smokers. On January 1, 2024, the price of cigarette packs will increase by around 40 to 50 cents, according to The echoes. If manufacturers do not want to absorb the tax increase on their margins and pass it all on to consumers, the increase for an 11-euro package should be 43 cents, indicates Romain Laroche, general director of Seita, quoted by the daily .
Certain brands such as Dunhill or Marlboro Red should therefore reach the 12 euros even if the government promised in September not to increase taxes – already existing at 80% – weighing on tobacco in 2024. Precisely, the executive must present on Tuesday its new strategy to fight against smoking without giving the impression of protecting the sector in the face of inflation. Tobacco taxes should ultimately bring in 13.7 billion euros in 2023, or 60 million… less than in 2022.
12 million smokers
Since the arrival of Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, the average annual price of a packet of Marlboro has increased from 7.05 euros in 2017 to 11.50 euros in 2023. By the end of the five-year term, the price should exceed 13 euros, according to the government’s stated objectives.
The prices of packages on January 1st must be published in December for 12 million smokers. According to data from Public Health France, in mainland France more than 3 out of 10 people aged 18 to 75 smoked in 2021 but for several years, sales have fallen, even if tobacconists will sell 1.5 billion packs again this year.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cited by The worldthe proportion of smokers among those over 15 exceeds a third in France, while it varies between a fifth and a quarter in neighboring countries (Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland), with the exception of Andorra and Spain, where the rate is between a quarter and a third.
In the space of 20 years, the price of a packet of cigarettes has increased in France by 3.5. Some 24,500 retailers live from the tobacco sales monopoly which generates 60 to 80% of their income, according to the Confederation of tobacconists.