Cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, puff… There are many tobacco-related products. And smokers too: Public Health France counted them nearly 12 million in 2022, or 3 out of 10 French people.
The “No Tobacco Month”, an operation by the public authorities to encourage the cessation of tobacco consumption, is an opportunity to take a closer look at the products of this industry.
The French cigarette… the most expensive in Europe?
Do you find that a pack of cigarettes is expensive in France? If we tell you that it costs 50% more in another European country, do you put things into perspective (a little)?
The Statista site took the example of a pack of 20 Malboro brand cigarettes in November 2023 and compared its price in several European countries. France (€10.5) is 3rd behind the United Kingdom (€14.99) and Ireland (€15.35).
However, a pack of cigarettes remains twice as expensive in France as in Portugal (€5.2) and Spain (€5.15).
Smoking on the rise in France?
Facing the regular rise in the price of tobacco in France, consumption… is decreasing.
A quick trip to the French customs website to notice a drop in the sale of cigarettes between August 2023 and August 2024. Sales decreased by 13.30%. The decline is even more obvious in sales of rolling tobacco (17.70%) and chewing tobacco (16.60%).
Only the “other smoking tobacco” category saw its sales increase (+7.40%). It includes tobacco for pipes or hookahs. Despite the increase, this figure should be put into perspective. The quantity actually sold is less: a little more than 95 tonnes in August 2024 throughout France. In comparison, over the same period, 400 tonnes of rolling tobacco were sold in France last August.
The Statista site also notes a substantial decline in smoking in France in 10 years, according to figures from 2000 and 2020. This decline is more notable in Sweden, country in which the proportion of smokers has been divided by 2 in 10 years.
Health Insurance notes that 31.8% of 18 to 75 year olds in France reported smoking in 2022.
What about electronic cigarettes?
Often used to stop traditional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes are increasingly common, notes the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT). “Daily vaping” concerns 5.5% of 18 to 75 year olds in 2022.
Notably, consumption among middle school students: “one in five have already vaped”underlines the OFDT. And the consumption or discovery of electronic cigarettes among high school students “has been increasing continuously since 2018”.
An industry that still pays?
The tobacco industry continues to make billions of dollars in sales worldwide. In 2022, Statista reports, Philip Morris International sold $35.74 billion worth of cigarettes or almost 34 billion for British American tobacco.
Faced with manufacturers, States, for whom the health problems caused by smoking are expensive. Public Health France notes that “4 million fewer cases of chronic diseases” represent a saving of 578 million euros per year.
Les Échos specified in September 2024 that “over one year, tobacco costs French society 156 billion euros” ; i.e. a cost in human lives, in quality of life, in production for companies in addition to the care to be provided to those suffering from smoking.
During operations such as “No Tobacco Month”, Public Health France estimates that each euro invested brings 4 euros in savings. Last year, 157,576 people registered, underlines the OFDT.
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