In border areas, such as Ariège, neighboring Andorra, locals often source tobacco from across the border.

But during the two confinements, it was impossible to get to Andorra.

Result: tobacco sales increased by nearly 22% in the sixty-eight tobacconists of the department. 

"The first confinement, we exploded everything", loose Regime, tobacconist in the small village of Cabannes in Ariège.

It runs the penultimate tobacco shop before the Andorran border.

During the lockdowns linked to the coronavirus epidemic, many of those who would usually get their supplies in Andorra - where the package is two times less than in France - rushed into his business.

Two billion euros in tobacco-related tax revenue in addition

“We sold four times as much tobacco. Every week, we had to restock. It was madness, there was a line on the sidewalk. For the second confinement, we made about 20% of People were able to forecast their stocks, they had a day's margin and therefore they had made their reserves, "says Régine. 

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And this increase is also seen in tax revenues from the sale of tobacco.

They went from around 16 billion to 18 billion euros.

This is, of course, the consequence of the rise in prices but above all of a leap in legal consumption, especially in the border departments.

An increase in sales of 22%

This jump in sales, Gérard Maury, the president of the tobacconists of Ariège, sees it in the 68 tobacco shops in the departments.

"You have to look at the volumes: we are at + 22% in sales over the past eleven months. It's colossal! But above all, it has served us to assess the parallel market which we estimated at 20% or even 25%. told us that we were exaggerating. The reality is that there are places like us where it must be close to 50% ". 

This improvement is nevertheless short-lived.

Since Tuesday, those who wish can return to Andorra and return with a cartridge and a half without risking a customs fine.

And tobacconists are in the process of finding the sales before the confinements.