UK Increases Price of Cigarettes to £14.38
On March 15, British Chancellor Jeremy Hunt raised tobacco duty in his Spring Budget. As a result, the price of 20-pack cigarettes is increased from £12.8 to £14.38, which is £1.54 extra per packet. The cigarette levy is set to increase by 10.1 per cent in line with the Retail Price Index, plus an additional two per cent on top. The last time rising cigarette prices were in October 2021, which increased from £12.73 to £13.60.
Sarah Coles, Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of personal finance, said, “For smokers… the pain will be immediate. The tax on cigarettes will increase by RPI plus two percent, which is almost 15 percent.”
Director of the smokers' campaign group Forest, Simon Clark, stressed, "Punishing smokers for their habit during a cost of living crisis is heartless and cruel. It discriminates against poorer smokers and will drive many more consumers to the black market."
The government hopes the price increases will bring the country closer to being smoke-free by 2030.
Reference:
Tobacco price hikes explained as smokers face a 15% rise from tonight
Bad news for smokers as Budget sees price of cigarettes soar
*The content of this article is written after the extraction, compilation and integration of multiple information for exchange and learning purposes. The copyright of the summary information still belongs to the original article and its author. If any infringement is found, please contact us to delete it.
