Price of a pack of cigarettes: from €2.77 to €15.4… where does France stand in relation to its European neighbours? – Free lunch

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced the indexation of the price of tobacco to inflation, which should bring the price of a packet to 11 euros in 2024. But how does France stand today compared to other European countries and to its direct neighbours? The pack of cigarettes could reach 11 euros in France in 2024, confirmed this Monday, September 26, Élisabeth Borne. “I confirm that the price of the pack will increase like inflation. It would be quite paradoxical for the increase in cigarettes to be lower than inflation. That means that the price would relatively fall,” said the Prime Minister on the BFMTV set. France at the foot of the “podium” in Europe Does an €11 packet place France on the podium of the European countries where tobacco is the most expensive? Not exactly. Cigarettes are the most expensive in Norway (€15.4 per pack), ahead of the United Kingdom (€14.38) and Ireland (€13.43). But France comes just after. Above all, it is surrounded by countries where a pack of cigarettes is very inexpensive. For example, it costs €4.55 in Spain, €5.2 in Italy, €4.78 in Luxembourg or €6.33 in Germany, according to figures from the European Commission compiled by Euronews. Where is the package the cheapest? Prices which are however far from those of Bulgaria (€2.77), Latvia (€3.79) or Slovenia (€3.98). In France, it is the taxes – more than 84% of the price of the package – which constitute the main lever in the fight against smoking. Paris has also pleaded for harmonization at European level, while the EU aims to reduce the number of smokers to 5% of its population. Unless the European authorities decide to follow another European example, much more extreme. That of the Netherlands, which plans to increase the price of the package to… 40 euros in 2040! In June 2022, RTBF indicated that the Minister of Health had plans to gradually increase taxes to reach a €10 package in 2025, then €30 to €40 in 2040.