Tobacco is expensive because the French government is using the taxes on it to make up the overall shortfall of tax revenue. See the budget deficit from last year.
Obviously the French government is saying that this is for health reasons but that reason has gone out of the window when a pack of smokes is 13 euros.
So the black market flourishes.
You can't keep increasing the price of a good without making sure that it can't be imported from elsewhere and since France is part of Europe and it no longer has any border checks, it very easy to smuggle cigarettes from Portugal or Spain.
This tactic of increasing the price of cigarettes or alcohol works in a place like Australia where it's orders of magnitude harder to smuggle things since stuff has to come either through airports or boats which are both watched carefully by the state.
Good point. Lots of reasons to love France. Also some good amount of things they get very wrong. Inheritance tax hitting the low class a lot these days, especially as house pricing is up through the roof.
Obviously the French government is saying that this is for health reasons but that reason has gone out of the window when a pack of smokes is 13 euros.
So the black market flourishes.
You can't keep increasing the price of a good without making sure that it can't be imported from elsewhere and since France is part of Europe and it no longer has any border checks, it very easy to smuggle cigarettes from Portugal or Spain.
This tactic of increasing the price of cigarettes or alcohol works in a place like Australia where it's orders of magnitude harder to smuggle things since stuff has to come either through airports or boats which are both watched carefully by the state.