According to recent reports from French media, tobacco prices will increase by as much as 1.50 euros by 2024. Specialty stores said they are "deeply concerned" by the price controls on hand cigarettes and heated cigarettes. Specialty stores worry that such price increases will further encourage illegal trade.
It is reported that tobacco retailers expect cigarette prices to increase by 40 to 50 euro cents on January 1, 2024, as tobacco taxes are now linked to inflation. In 2023, the tax department also implemented a new tax system for products that previously had lower tax burdens, such as hand-rolled cigarettes and heated cigarettes. Most tobacco manufacturers have stated that prices will increase by 50 euro cents to adapt to the impact of inflation, but some companies have adopted more radical strategies, such as PMI (Philip Morris), which manufactures products such as Marlboro cigarettes. The minimum increase is 1 euro, according to a document released by the customs on Tuesday.
"This price adjustment exploits consumers of hand-rolled cigarettes and heated cigarettes, most of whom live in poverty." The Tobacco Distributors Federation lamented, "We had known that prices would rise, and price adjustments for hand-rolled cigarettes and heated cigarettes are inevitable. , but now the situation has exceeded our estimates, and the sharp increase in prices will make consumers more inclined to go to the illegal market." The Tobacco Distributors Federation lamented.
The new anti-smoking plan proposed by the French government at the end of November last year predicts that the minimum price of a pack of 20 cigarettes will gradually increase to 13 euros in early 2027, and the first step in 2025 is to increase it to 12 euros.
