Smoking is prohibited in pubs and restaurants, and a ban on smoking on restaurant terraces was recently discussed in parliament. Nobody questions the fact that tobacco products negatively impact your health.
Apart from being unhealthy, tobacco products are also becoming increasingly expensive. While smoking seems to have become less popular in Luxembourg at a first glance, recent ministry of finance numbers suggest otherwise.
According to those numbers, the sale of tobacco products increased in 2018: In 2017, 2,835,128,725 cigarettes were sold, compared to the 3,001,399,505 sold in 2018. This presents a significant increase of 5.86%. Loose tobacco product sales also increased: From 3,608 tons in 2017 to 3,697 tons (+2.47%) in 2018.
In its answer to LSAP MP Mars Di Bartolomeo, the ministry for finance did not explain which factors contributed to this rise in tobacco sales. But this question will no doubt be investigated by the ministry of health, which officially tries to bring tobacco consumption down.
The increase in sales could have something to do with the fact that tobacco prices have gone up even more steeply in Luxembourg’s neighbouring countries. In 2010, a pack of 20 cigarettes cost €3.20 in Luxembourg. In 2018, the same pack set buyers back €4.20, according to numbers provided by the ministry. The ministry of finance’s parliamentary answer doesn’t reveal how these prices come about, but stressed that vendors are setting the prices for these products.
The numbers reveal that Luxembourgish cigarettes were less expensive than abroad at any given moment within the past 10 years. In Germany, a pack of 20 cigarettes cost €4.53, in Belgium €5.50 and in France €7.60. This means that in France, the same pack of cigarettes costs more than €3, or about 80%, more than in Luxembourg.
For tobacco in a 1kg container, the situation is very similar.. In 2010, the price for this in Luxembourg was €54. Last year, the price for the same quantity was €104. In Germany, a 1kg container of tobacco became less expensive, but it is still more than what you would have to pay in Luxembourg. France has the most expensive prices on 1kg tubs of tobacco: no less than €273 per kg.
