Tobacco use in France has reached a historic low, with both consumption and sales continuing to decline. The trend is even more pronounced in regions near the country’s borders.
According to the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Behaviors (OFDT), fewer than one in four adults (23.1% of those aged 18 to 75) smoked in 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, tobacco sales volumes dropped by nearly 11.5%. The decline has been exacerbated along the Belgian border, where a sharp 25% price increase took effect in January 2024.
Last year, French tobacconists sold just over 32,000 tonnes of tobacco – a significant drop from the more than 54,000 tonnes sold in 2017.
The decrease has been especially stark in areas bordering Luxembourg, where sales plummeted by 59.2% in Moselle and 50.2% in Meurthe-et-Moselle between 2017 and 2024. Even temporary import quotas failed to reverse the trend, as cross-border consumers increasingly turn to neighbouring countries like Luxembourg, where prices remain much lower.
The OFDT notes that “analysis of per capita tobacco availability for those aged 15 and over confirms lower stock levels in tobacconists along the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Andorra, and Spain.”
Despite the overall decline, Luxembourg remains a key transit point for tobacco traffickers smuggling products into France illegally. Some individuals travel hundreds of kilometres to take advantage of the Grand Duchy’s low taxes, stocking up for resale on France’s black market.
