Smokers’ wallets will be able to breathe in 2025

2024-10-17 19:11:00

The price of a pack of cigarettes had increased again in March 2024. But the government does not plan an additional increase in 2025 and indexation to inflation will be “contained”, promised Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin on Thursday. Enough to respond to the concerns of tobacconists but possibly undermine the ambitions of the anti-tobacco plan which plans to gradually increase the floor price of packs of 20 cigarettes to 13 euros by the beginning of 2027.

“Excessively significant differences with our European neighbors can lead to a weakening of flow rates, in particular those installed in border territories, and to the persistence of an excessively large parallel market,” estimated the minister, invited to the annual congress of the Confederation of tobacconists.

An increase for vapes?

“There is no further increase in the trajectory of tobacco growth in the financial bills presented by the government at the end of the year. Indexing to inflation will be contained,” he continued.

If tobacco will be exempt from the increase, this will perhaps not be the case for vaping: an amendment to the draft budget plans to create taxation dedicated to vaping products, with the introduction of an excise duty at 0 .15 euro per milliliter of liquid. This tax, which should bring in between 150 and 200 million euros per year, has been denounced by the sector union Fivape which believes that it will benefit the tobacco industry to the detriment of the independents.

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