Second increase since this summer for the price of the pack of cigarettes. Starting this Monday, some packages see their price increase while others decline, according to a ministerial decree published in the official journal at the end of September. "Almost half of the packets of 20 cigarettes always have a price equal to or greater than 8 €," the statement said.
New tobacco prices will come into effect from Monday, October 22, with very slight increases for some references, according to a ministerial decree published in late September in the official journal. These changes only slightly affect the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes, stable at € 7.90.
Average prices of other packaging are also stable, say the Ministry of Action and Public Accounts, as well as that of Health in a joint statement. In fact, the increases are only a few cents and affect very few references.
"Always a price equal to or greater than 8 €"
"The approved prices of packets of 20 cigarettes remain between € 7.60 and € 9.30. Nearly half of the packets of 20 cigarettes always have a price equal to or greater than 8 € " , details the release.
Regarding the standard packaging of rolling tobacco, he adds, the prices approved jokes of 30 grams remain between 9,60 € and 11,10 € and 70% still have a price equal to or greater than 10,40 € . In detail, the changes are indeed rare.
Thus, the pack of 20 Marlboro Red (Philip Morris group), which costs € 8 since March 1 against € 7.30 previously, will keep this prize, just like the package Gauloises blondes. The Lucky Strike Classic Blue will increase by 10 cents, to 7.70 €, while the Camel (without filter) packages remain stable, at 7.90 €. Finally, the red winfields of 20 units are also maintained at € 7.90, just like the Winfield blue.
75,000 deaths a year in France
In France, it is the tobacco industry that sets sales prices but the state can encourage increases by varying the taxes, which represent more than 80% of the price. This is the sixth tobacco price revision since the Macron government's arrival in May 2017 after four years of stability.
To reduce tobacco consumption, the government has planned a series of successive increases to reach, by November 2020, a price of € 10 per pack of 20 cigarettes. Tobacco, which causes cancer and cardiovascular disease, kills some 75,000 French people each year.