an activity which remains very profitable for tobacconists, according to a report

Despite taxes, tobacconists’ income is constantly increasing, thanks in particular to the increase in cigarette prices.

The estimated earnings of tobacconists have reached more than 2 billion euros in 2023 for the sale of tobacco products alone, according to a report from the Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) published on Wednesday which France Inter has taken note of. “A tobacconist received on average 90 000 euros of earnings before tax, three times more than in 2007″, specifies this same report. Constantly increasing income for tobacconists due in particular to “the increase in the prices of tobacco products, the increase in the rebate paid to tobacconists and the reduction in the number of sellers in France”notes the collective of anti-smoking associations.

The increase in taxes on packets of cigarettes and other tobacco products “benefits tobacconists” who receive a percentage of the sale of each package and the price increases compensate for the drop in volumes. Retailers thus saw their income from tobacco significantly increase. With the Social Security financing law for 2023 which provides that tobacco taxation will now be linked to the inflation of the previous year, the price of packets of cigarettes has increased to 1.50 euros in 2024. For reminder, the government’s anti-smoking plan presented at the end of November plans to gradually increase the floor price of packs of 20 cigarettes to 13 euros by the beginning of 2027.

With this growing turnover from the sale of tobacco, tobacconists have received several state aids which supplement their income. According to the ACT, a total of “4.4 billion euros in public aid, or more than 190 millions of euros per year have been paid to the profession” for 20 years. A boost from the State intended, in theory, to compensate for the decline in the tobacco market caused by rising prices, as well as the effects of competition from neighboring countries where cigarettes are cheaper. In a 2017 report, the Court of Auditors pointed out these state subsidies, which it judged “excessive” And “without economic basis”.

“I believe it is dangerous to conflate money, revenue, public aid and prevention,” deplores to France Inter, Philippe Coy, president of the Confederation of tobacconists. “The subject that must bring us together and make us work together is prevention,” he continues.