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No massive shift to the black market, despite successive price increases: 4 out of 5 smokers bought their last pack of cigarettes from the tobacconist, describes a note from the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT) published Friday .
“In 2021 in mainland France, 79.2% of smokers surveyed said they made their last purchase from a tobacconist“, point out the authors of the note on tobacco supply in France between 2014 and 2022, published in partnership with Public Health France (SpF).
According to them, purchasing on the street only concerns 1% of the last packs purchased by smokers, undermining the preconceived idea of a risk of transfer to the parallel market.
Illegal circumventions range from purchasing in a third country by an individual in excess of authorized volumes to buying on the run from illegal resellers.
This black market is estimated by public organizations at between 10% and 20%, or two to four times less than the estimates produced by studies financed by the tobacco industry, qualify the authors of the note.
“Over the period 2017-2019, there was a strong policy of price increases and this did not change the purchasing behavior and supply methods declared by smokers“, reminds AFP Guillaume Airagnes, director of the OFDT.
The average annual price of a pack of cigarettes of the best-selling brand stood at 10.50 euros in 2022, compared to 7 euros in 2014.
“Spectacular” drop
“Increasing the price is one of the most effective public policy measures to reduce smoking in the population.“, says Mr. Airagnes.
The countries bordering mainland France have not increased tobacco prices as significantly, so tobacco is cheaper there.
“The share of smokers who bought their last pack in a neighboring country stands at 42%, compared to only 7% on average in the other departments.“, report the authors.
The note is based on OFDT general population surveys for adolescents aged 17 and on the SpF barometer for adults.
In general, the figures on consumption are decreasing, among young people and adults alike, a decrease responsible for the drop in volumes of tobacco purchased from tobacconists between 2014 and 2022 (55,415 tonnes to 40,314 tonnes, editor’s note ).
“Daily smoking among adults fell from 28.6% to 24.5%. The decline is even more spectacular among adolescents at 17 years old since there, daily use levels have been halved. They are only at 15.6% in 2022“, specifies to AFP Marc-Antoine Douchet, study manager at the OFDT and one of the authors of the note.
One in two 17-year-old smokers (58.3%) buy their supplies from tobacconists, even though it is prohibited to sell tobacco to minors.
“The lack of control among tobacconists is systematically mentioned. The minors surveyed very clearly identified the situations most likely to result in refusals (age of the tobacconist, group purchases) as well as tobacco shops known to be +friendly+“, observe the authors.