In 2016, cigarette sales fell, according to the OFDT, which confirms the effect of “Me (s) without Tobacco”.
Slowly, very slowly, but surely – hopefully. Tobacco sales are decreasing in France, the OFDT has just confirmed. The French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction publishes its “2016 report on the tobacco dashboard”, which covers the analysis of monthly data over the year. The observation is good: after a year of growth, sales fell back to their 2014 level.
“While 2015 was marked by the first increase in sales in the tobacconist network since 2010, the trend was reversed in 2016”, thus writes the OFDT. In 2016, sales amounted to 55,728 tonnes, compared to 56,323 tonnes the previous year. This represents a decrease of 1.1%.
Success of the month without tobacco
The decline has two characteristics. “On the one hand, it is almost entirely attributable to the decline in sales of manufactured cigarettes (80% of the market with 44,926 tonnes), sales of rolling tobacco being practically stable (8,972 tonnes)”, we can read.
On the other hand, this decrease is closely linked to the operation “Me (s) without tobacco”. The December dashboard had already confirmed the effect on sales of this national invitation to weaning. The month was marked by a sharp drop compared to December 2015.
However, according to the OFDT, the recorded annual decline “took place mainly in December. Indeed, while we were moving towards a stable sales, the month following the entry into force of the neutral package and the operation “Me (s) without tobacco” has registered a clear break “.
Cross-border shopping
The OFDT provides another indicator, which counterbalances the cries of the tobacco industry, which brandishes the threat of cross-border traffic boosted by the neutral package, the increase in taxes and other persecutions perpetrated against its citizens. products. However, this threat does not materialize in the field: “cross-border tobacco purchases do not seem to have progressed”. The overall tobacco turnover thus appears to be slightly down: 18 billion euros in 2016 against 18.2 billion in 2015.
All the indicators also point in the direction of an improvement in terms of health, with sales of treatment to aid quitting on the rise (+ 16.5%), as well as tobacco consultations and health services. remote assistance (Tobacco info service) which received more requests from smokers and a significant mobilization around the “Tobacco-free I (s)” in November (180,000 registered). “The main treatments remain oral substitutes ahead of transdermal patches, which account for more than 90% of the market”.
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