The “right” price of a pack of cigarettes? 13.07 euros – The Obs

Smokers will not appreciate. According to consulting firm Microeconomix, the “right” price, price “ socially responsible” a pack of cigarettes would be … 13.07 euros! Nearly double the current price of a package …

In order to calculate this price, the consulting firm, whose study is relayed by “Les Echos”, took account the cost of smoking to society, rising, he said, in France, to 15.7 billion euros per year.

induced Tobacco consumption in fact costs. For the first State in the amount of 19.7 billion: health spending (16.4 billion), non-tax collected due to premature deaths of smokers (3.3 billion) and expenses for prevention and Search (55 million). But the “profits” attributable to smoking for the state budget amounted to 20.6 billion them: VAT (14 billion), non-paid pensions, due to deaths of smokers (6.6 billion). L state is “beneficiary” of about 1 billion euros, according Microeconomix.

A 87% increase in the price

But the figure is misleading, because smoking also causes costs to society as a whole, due to the loss of wealth produced by companies due to the absence or deaths smoking. An estimated cost of 16 billion euros!

“While the net impact of their consumption on public accounts is almost neutral, the loss of wealth suffered by the company due to premature mortality is important, “write the study authors.

Overall, smoking is costing 15.7 billion per year to the company … Considering it in taxes, the price of the package So climb to over 13 euros , an increase of 87% compared to the reference packet price .

“Fix the price of tobacco would then impose its social cost of out of fuzzy logic prevailing: the moderate increases for smokers do not get angry or tobacconists, implemented under the pretext of risk prevention but no real evidence supporting the amounts applied “the authors conclude. “Discontent is some smokers, but the pricing rule would have the advantage of being based on an explicit economic logic and computing complex but transparent, leading to what smokers pay the real price of their consumption . “

Without advocating (for now) such price increase, some MPs, including former Socialist minister Michèle Delaunay, filed in late October an amendment to the health bill to to take into account the social cost of smoking to set the level of taxes on tobacco sales. The study comes Microeconomix undoubtedly support the project parliamentarians.

RF