More than a third of cigarettes consumed in France do not come from the legal network of tobacconists, according to a study

In the fourth quarter of 2021, more than a third of cigarettes consumed in France (36.9%) did not come from the legal network of tobacconists and one in five cigarettes came from counterfeiting, according to an Empty Pack Survey study for the company of Seita tobacco released Thursday, March 31. In four years, the share of cigarettes consumed in France from parallel networks has increased by 15 points. It was 21.9% in December 2017.

Over the same period, counterfeiting also experienced a “explosion” according to the Seita. It was 0.3% in December 2017 to reach 17.6% in December 2021. Today, nearly one in five cigarettes consumed in France comes from counterfeiting, i.e. as many as cross-border purchases. In addition, the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes rose from 7 to 10 euros between 2017 and 2020. At the same time, the prevalence rate of daily smoking rose from 26.9% to 25.5%. However, Seita warns that this rate is “higher in France than the European average”.

For Seita, “The health crisis has allowed a real explosion of counterfeiting”. According to Hervé Natali, head of territorial relations for the company, “the mafia networks have adapted their organization as well as their devices to satisfy this new consumer use”. The tobacco company also notes that in France taxation is “highest” and traffic rate “record”. She calls to “ask the right questions and thus change the approach to tobacco in France”.