With the latest Budget 2020, the United Kingdom chancellor recently announced a 2% increase in cigarette tax above the 1.8% inflation rate. This might sound modest in the world of soaring cigarette prices, but this actually means the average 20-pack of cigarettes in the UK now costs a whopping £12.58 (or US$16.50). The average price of cheaper brands rises to £9.10. Hand-rolled tobacco will face a 6% increase in taxes.
New prices are effective March 11 and means a one-pack-a-day smoker in the UK now pays £4,592.00 for cigarettes annually.
According to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) about 14.7% of people aged 18 years and above smoked cigarettes in 2018, meaning around 7.2 million people will be affected by the price hike.
Backlash from the anti-tobacco forces, such as ASH, immediately said hike didn’t go far enough, and they would like to see the price of RYO increased to match cigarette pricing. But Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, told The Sun newspaper in the UK, that the changes will impoverish hard-up smokers and push them towards buying illegal cigarettes.