Market forces in action

Luxembourg seems to be bucking the trend. According to a story at delano.lu, cigarette sales last year, at more than three billion, were up by 5.86 percent on those of the previous year.

These figures were provided by Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna, who was responding to a parliamentary question posed by deputy Mars Di Bartolomeo about the sales evolution of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the grand duchy.

He further asked for a comparison of sales with neighbouring countries during the past decade, specifically noting that cigarette sales in France had dropped by more than nine percent following a “sharp rise” in prices of more than €1 a pack.

According to the figures provided in Gramegna’s reply, the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in Luxembourg is €4.20, a price that did not changed between 2017 and 2018, though it had been increased from €3.20 in 2010.

In France in 2018, a 20-piece cigarette pack retailed at €7.60, providing a price differential of 80.95 percent between France and Luxembourg.

Also in 2018, pack prices in Belgium and Germany were €5.50 and €4.53, respectively, providing price differentials of 30.95 percent and 7.86 percent respectively.

The story said that these figures implied that at least part of the increase of cigarette sales in Luxembourg might have been due to cross-border sales.

The minister was quoted as saying that “the fight against tobacco addiction will be carried on”.