A package of Marlboro will cost € 10 from March 1st. It is the effect of an increase in taxes which has reduced sales and aims to reduce smoking in France.
Published in the Official Journal on Tuesday, a ministerial decree dated January 31 sets the new prices, up due to the application of the first tax hike of 50 cents, scheduled for this year – the second being scheduled for November 1 by the government .
“The government wanted to reach an average price of a packet of cigarettes at 10 € in November 2020, but there the most expensive brands are already there,” said AFP a tobacco company not wishing to be identified.
Philip Morris, 40% market share
As of next month, the Philip Morris group, whose market share is 40% in France, including 26% with its flagship brand Marlboro, will now sell the Marlboro Red package at € 10, compared to € 9.30 currently. Another of its best-selling references increases by 60 cents: the Winston cars go up to € 9.60.
The market leader therefore passed on the increase of 50 cents, and at the same time increased its margin from 10 to 20 cents per package.
At the competitor Japan Tobacco International, the price of Camel without filter goes to 9.80 € against 9.10 €, again an increase of 70 cents.
The most expensive? Brown gypsies
The Marlboro package is not the most expensive in France, however: the Gauloises brunettes from Seita (French subsidiary of the British Imperial Brands), which already cost € 10 since November 1, rose to € 10.60, and the Brown Gypsies at 11 €, against 10.50 € previously.
In France, tobacco manufacturers set their selling prices, but the State can encourage increases by varying the taxes, which represent more than 80% of the price. Each manufacturer then decides to maintain, trim or increase its margins, depending on the competition and its pricing policy.
A drop in sales
After the presidential election in May 2017, the government ended four years of price stability, significantly raising taxes to bring the price of the package to around € 8 on March 1, 2018, and since then making two annual increases 50 cents, programmed one in March, the other in November, with the stated aim of reducing tobacco consumption.
These price increases caused sales to drop 9.32% in 2018 and 7.2% last year.
According to the tobacco companies, this strengthening of the tax system is causing the parallel market to explode. Evidenced by “customs seizures of illicit tobacco more and more,” said AFP Pascal Marbois, director of public affairs of British American Tobacco (BAT) France.
Among BAT’s flagship products, the price of the Lucky Strike Bleu Classic will go up to € 9.40 on March 1, compared to € 8.90 previously, and that of the Winfield Rouge will drop to € 9.60.
A tax shock policy disconnected from neighboring countries
“France continues to go it alone with a tax shock policy disconnected from neighboring countries,” said Mr. Marbois, calling on “the authorities for a more pragmatic policy focused on reducing risks and promoting vaping” which ” proven to be an alternative to smoking. “
Seita also said he feared “a fall in tobacco deliveries to cross-border regions, which suffer from parallel trade: they have already dropped by 10 to 15% last year,” said Cyril Lalo, his head of institutional relations.
75,000 deaths in France each year
On the anti-smoking side, it is estimated that government policy, which combines an increase in prices with other measures – reimbursement of tobacco treatment, neutral package – but also the rise in vaping, has motivated a significant number of people. to stop smoking.
The leading cause of preventable mortality, tobacco kills some 75,000 French people each year.
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