Some brands of cigarettes will increase slightly on July 2nd, mainly those whose prices are located in the bottom of the market, according to a decree dated 7th June and published Saturday in the Official Journal.
According to an order signed by the Director General of Health and the Director General of Customs and Indirect Taxation, certain brands of cigarettes, which remained at around € 7.50 a pack during the last round of increases applied on the 1st May, will increase to 7.70 euros or 7.80 euros.
At the top of the market, the package of 20 Marlboro Red (Philip Morris group), which costs 8 euros since March 1, against 7.30 euros before, will keep the price. The Camel Filters package also remains at 7.90 euros. Benson and Hedges Original Red package of 20 cigarettes, however, increases to 7.80 euros, against 7.50 euros previously. And that of Winston Connect Blue goes from 7.60 euros to 7.70 euros. Both brands are, like the Camels, sold by the Japan Tobacco Group.
“There are very few changes except in the references that had targeted a low ceiling during the previous tariff revision”, commented an expert of the sector. This is the fourth tobacco price revision since the Macron government’s arrival in May 2017 after four years of stability.
To reduce consumption, the government has planned a series of successive increases to reach, by November 2020, a price of 10 euros per pack of 20 cigarettes. On the 28th May, the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn attributed to the rise of tariffs, and the electronic cigarette, the decline of one million of the number of smokers in France recorded in 2017.
She was particularly pleased with the decline of the most disadvantaged smokers “for the first time since 2000” , a sign that for some the package has become too expensive. And she had called for “continuing this major struggle against one of the greatest plagues of public health” .
