The government in the Netherlands is considering increasing the price of a pack of cigarettes to between EUR 30 and EUR 47 by 2040, reports the NL Times.

The hope is that the extreme rise in price would have a deterring effect on consumers and would essentially make cigarettes unaffordable. With this move, the Dutch State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen of Public Health is thought to be following Australia’s example, where a pack of cigarettes already costs EUR 24, reports the NL Times.
Currently, a pack of cigarettes costs around EUR 8 in the Netherlands and the Rutte IV government is looking to increase that price by EUR 2. However, van Ooijen wants to go even further to achieve the government’s plan of a “smoke-free generation” by 2040. Currently, 20 per cent of residents in the Netherlands are smokers and the goal noted in the National Prevention Agreement of 2018 is to have only 5 per cent of residents smoking by 2040.