A further increase in the price of tobacco in France in 2026

In France, the price of tobacco rises again on 1^st January 2026 as part of public health policy. The authorities aim to reduce cigarette consumption by making the product ever more expensive, in particular to discourage younger people. The increase, which takes some brands beyond 13 € a pack, is already having consequences for official sales and raises concerns about the growth of the parallel market.

Background and aims of the increase

For several years France has used tobacco taxation as a deterrent. A national anti-smoking plan (2023-2027) sets out an upward price trajectory: the initial aim was to reach a minimum price of 13 € a pack by 2026, although this was adjusted to target 2027. In practice, the symbolic 13 € mark is reached on many products in early 2026, after passing the 10 € level in 2020 and then 11-12 € in recent years. The strategy is part of a public health approach intended to reduce smoking, while generating substantial tax revenue (about 87% of the price of a pack corresponds to taxes in France).

Tobacco manufacturers are required to declare and apply the new prices approved by the customs service. A ministerial order published on 12 December 2025 confirmed the new price list from 1^st January 2026. The government makes no secret of its aim to reduce tobacco consumption through these repeated price rises. This “price shock” policy has to contend, however, with the risk of smokers turning to less heavily taxed or illicit products, which makes it a delicate balancing act.

Details of the increases from 1^st January 2026

From 1^st January 2026, the main manufacturers are raising their prices, with increases varying by brand and product type. In detail, the changes are as follows:

• Japan Tobacco International (JTI) – Camel and Winston cigarettes now reach 13.00 € a pack. JTI is applying increases ranging from +0.10 € to more than +1 € on some products, including a price rise for its rolling tobacco. Winston Blue (20 units), for example, has gone from 12.50 € to 13.00 €.
• Philip Morris International (PMI) – The maker of Marlboro and Philip Morris is raising the price of its cigarettes and rolling tobacco by about +0.50 €. Its flagship brand Marlboro Red, the best-selling in France, climbs from 13.00 € to 13.50 € a pack, crossing a new record. Other premium PMI products also go beyond 13 €.
• British American Tobacco (BAT) – This group (Dunhill, Lucky Strike and other brands) is changing only around ten products, with moderate increases of +0.10 € to +0.50 € depending on the pack. Most BAT cigarettes remain below the 13 € mark.
• Imperial Brands (Seita) – The maker of Gauloises and Winston (in France) has opted for limited increases of about +0.10 € on most of its cigarette packs, keeping its brands often just below the JTI and PMI prices.

Despite these general increases, entry-level ranges remain at around 11.50 € for a pack of 20 cigarettes, maintained by all the major manufacturers in order to keep a more affordable offer for smokers on a modest budget. Manufacturers also justify the 2026 increases by the rise in certain costs: the new environmental contribution (intended to fund the collection of cigarette butts through the Alcome scheme) has risen sharply, as have raw materials and energy. PMI states that the price adjustment “corresponds to the increase in [its] environmental contribution, to inflation in production costs and to the increase in the share paid to tobacconists”. Manufacturers say they are calibrating the increases so as not to drive customers towards other channels: “The increase remains limited so as not to push buyers towards the illegal market,” says the PMI spokesperson, who also notes that alternative products such as the electronic cigarette have been spared in order to keep them more affordable.

Further adjustments on 1 February 2026

On 1 February 2026, a further series of increases is applied to most tobacco products, in line with the orders published by the customs service. The average price of a pack now exceeds 13.50 €, with a cumulative rise of 20 to 60 additional centimes this quarter. As in January, manufacturers are adjusting their prices in stages according to brand: premium brands continue to move above the symbolic 13 € threshold, while entry-level or unfiltered products remain close to 11-12 €.

• Dunhill (silver, blue, red): 13.50 € → 13.70 € (+0.20).
• Gauloises blondes (white, blue, red): 12.60 € → 13.00 € (+0.40). Gauloises brunes: 13.80 € → 14.20 € (+0.40).
• Lucky Strike (X Series, Gold, Red, etc.): 12.50 € → 12.70 € (+0.20). Rothmans (blue, red, London): 12.50 € → 12.70 € (+0.20). News & Co (blue, red): 12.60 € → 13.00 € (+0.40).
• Vogue L’Originale (white, blue, pastel): 13.00 € → 13.20 € (+0.20).

Among the major cigarette brands, some stay at the same price: most Marlboro, Chesterfield, Philip Morris and L&M products in particular are unchanged (generally held at around 13 €). A few rare packs see their price fall: this is the case, for example, for Winston Sélection (blue and red packs, from 11.70 € to 11.50 €, -0.20) and Camel Filters No. 1 (from 10.60 € to 10.50 €, -0.10).

• Austin Red (30 g rolling tobacco): 15.50 € → 15.60 € (+0.10).
• Philip Morris pouch (30 g): 18.35 € → 18.55 € (+0.20). Lucky Strike (30 g pouch): 18.00 € → 18.50 € (+0.50). Samson (40 g pouch): 24.10 € → 24.80 € (+0.70).

Several very marginal products are withdrawn from the market (“discontinued”) in this update. The King Blue pack (20 units, previously 11.20 €), for example, is removed. Among heated cigarettes, some Heets products are also dropped (Heets Mauve Wave, for instance). These withdrawals reflect changes in the product portfolio, but mainly concern niche items.

In summary, the adjustment of 1 February 2026 continues the health and budgetary logic: a general increase in prices (some packs now exceed 13 €) while keeping an offer that remains accessible at the bottom of the range. The effect on consumption will need watching, as will the risk of a shift towards the parallel market if official prices become prohibitive.

First effects on sales and on tobacconists

On the legal tobacco market, a marked fall in sales has followed this price rise. According to French customs data, the volume of cigarettes sold in 2025 fell by more than 11% compared with 2024, and by 15% for rolling tobacco (comparing November 2024 with November 2025). The trend extends the decline in smoking observed in France in recent years. In practice, many smokers are now adjusting their purchases by cutting down or turning to cheaper products.

For tobacconists, the drop in footfall shows up directly in turnover. “We are seeing our daily sales fall by around 20 to 25%. So our turnover is going down,” says Stéphane Mazille, who runs a tobacconist’s in Dijon, a few days after the new prices came into force. This fall in legal sales worries the trade, which sees its businesses weakened. The president of the tobacconists’ confederation, Serdar Kaya, regrets “this umpteenth price change [which] is another opportunity to weaken our businesses still further”, referring to a transfer of trade to organised crime. While some smokers take advantage of the price rise to cut down or stop, others may look for alternatives outside the official circuit. “I do not think price is what puts people off smoking. It is addictive, once you are used to it, you are used to it,” said one smoker interviewed on television, unconvinced that rising costs will be enough to make him give up tobacco.

Faced with these dynamics, tobacconists fear above all a resurgence of the illegal market if customers turn away from official sales. From 1^st January, the trade expressed the fear of seeing part of consumption shift to parallel channels (smuggled cigarettes, cross-border purchases and so on). That concern is reinforced by the scale untaxed tobacco has already reached in France.

The risk of a growing parallel market

The parallel tobacco market covers all cigarettes consumed while escaping French taxes (smuggling, counterfeiting, purchases abroad beyond legal limits and so on). The phenomenon grows as the price of tobacco rises in France. According to some estimates, nearly one cigarette in two smoked in France in 2024 was not bought from an official tobacconist. That high figure, often put forward by the tobacco industry, is disputed by the health authorities. Even studies commissioned by the State, however, put the share of consumption escaping French taxation at around 17-20%, or almost a fifth of the cigarettes smoked, representing more than 4 billion euros of lost tax revenue a year. In other words, the shortfall and the health impact of the black market in cigarettes are far from negligible.

Several factors feed this parallel market. First, cross-border purchases: many smokers take advantage of price differences with neighbouring countries to buy abroad. In Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Andorra, tobacco remains much cheaper than in France, encouraging people living near the border (and even some organised networks) to import cartons. A study funded by French customs showed that departments bordering countries with cheaper tobacco (Moselle and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, for example) saw deliveries of cigarettes to tobacconists fall by more than 45% between 2016 and 2023, while departments far from the borders such as the Vendée recorded a fall of less than 25%. The analysis shows that this divergence widened after 2018, confirming that proximity to the borders makes cross-border tobacco purchases easier. During the 2020 lockdown, the temporary closure of the borders led smokers to switch massively to the legal French network, causing a temporary rise in sales in border areas, which indirectly illustrated the scale of purchases usually made abroad.

Organised smuggling and counterfeiting also feed the black market. Illegal networks import or clandestinely manufacture cigarettes to resell them cheaply, without complying with standards or paying tax. In 2024, French customs seized nearly 489 tonnes of smuggled and counterfeit tobacco on French territory, a considerable volume, although slightly down on 2023. According to an international report, around 15.6% of the cigarettes consumed in France are counterfeit products, coming from clandestine factories in France or in neighbouring countries. These illegal cigarettes, sold on the street or through criminal networks, compete directly with legal sales by offering a far lower price, but with no health guarantee whatsoever.

Faced with this growing threat, the public authorities are gradually stepping up the fight against illicit tobacco trade. Criminal penalties for cigarette trafficking have been increased in recent years, and border checks are becoming more frequent. The government has also announced its intention to restore a limit of one carton (that is, 10 packs) per person for cigarettes brought back from another European Union country, instead of the four cartons currently tolerated following a legal ruling. The measure, supported by tobacconists, aims to reduce large personal imports from neighbouring countries. At the same time, awareness campaigns and new pack traceability technologies are being deployed to curb the circulation of illicit tobacco.

In sum, the tobacco price rise on 1^st January 2026 is part of a long-term public health strategy to reduce smoking in France. It takes prices to new heights, with some packs at 13 € and more, and contributes to the fall in legal cigarette sales. Its effectiveness also depends, however, on the authorities’ ability to contain the shift to the parallel market, whether cross-border purchases or criminal smuggling networks. The equation remains complex: reducing the number of smokers without moving the problem to an uncontrolled clandestine circuit, all while preserving the economic balance of tobacconists. The coming months and years will show how far this new price increase has met its double objective of public health and reduction of illicit trade.

Sources: French customs, AFP (dispatch of 12/12/2025), LCI/TF1