Smokers facing crippling hike in cigarette prices after Budget announcement
The price of a pack is now on average more than £14 after the Chancellor's Budget announcement yesterday.
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The price of a pack of 20 cigarettes has risen to more than £14 after Jeremy Hunt confirmed the tobacco tax would rise with inflation. The hike in tax on cigarettes comes as the Government tries to make the UK smoke-free by 2030. It has gone up by 12.7 percent RPI – along with an additional two percent – meaning a 15 percent increase.
The Retail Price Index (RPI) is a measurement of inflation used to calculate the cost of living and wage escalation. This increase means that anyone forking out for a pack of 20 cigarettes has to pay an extra £1.15.
Anyone who favours rolling their own now has to pay £2 more for a 30g pack of tobacco.
Today’s announcement is the first time cigarette prices have increased since October 2021. Back then, the price of the most expensive pack went up by 88p, from £12.73 to just over £13.60.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt opened his statement on the budget saying the UK economy will not enter a technical recession this year. He said the British economy is "on the right track", something which is "proving the doubters wrong". Mr Hunt said the UK economy will meet the PM’s priorities to halve inflation, reduce debt and get the economy growing.
According to ONS figures, in 1987 a packet of king-size 20 cigarettes set back smokers less than £1.50.
Ten years later it was up to £2.87 and by 2000 it had risen to £3.67. It wasn't until April 2007 that 20 cigarettes would fetch £5 and by July 1 of the same year, the Labour government made it illegal to smoke in public indoor spaces like pubs and nightclubs.
In 2018 the average price of a pack climbed over £10 for the first time and by January of this year the cost had topped £12.
Yesterday's budget announcement confirms Britain's status as one of the most expensive places to smoke in Europe.
According to Statista, in 2022 only the Republic of Ireland was a costlier place to have a puff.
In comparison, Bulgarians only had to pay €2.77 (£2.42 at the exchange rate today), Poles €3.22 (£2.81), and Slovakians €3.46 (£3.02).
The last time you could buy a 20 cigarettes for less than £2.42 in the UK, it was November 1994.
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Jeremy Hunt has however paused the the increase in alcohol tax.
Levies were due to be increased on February 1 but the Chancellor has delayed that move until August 1.
This means that when drinkers are enjoying themselves in beer gardens in the summer, they will be stung in the pocket with a double-digit inflationary rise in booze taxes.
It could see an increase of 45p on a bottle of wine from August 1.
Spirits like whisky, gin and vodka are already taxed at 70 percent, but face a raise based on RPI inflation in the summer, which is currently at 13.4 percent.