The price of a 20-pack of cigarettes will go up by GBP 1.89 after the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced the Spring Budget included a rise in tobacco taxes, reports The Sun.

As part of the Spring Budget the cost of cigarettes is due to go up by almost 15 per cent with immediate effect. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed that cigarette levies will rise by 12.7 per cent in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI), plus an extra minimum 2 per cent on top which is applied to tobacco products, reports The Sun. This means that smokers will have to pay GBP 14.73 for a price of 20 cigarettes compared to the current price of GBP 12.84 per pack.
Cigarette prices last increased with the 2021 Budget and usually increase with inflation each year unless the Chancellor steps in to freeze rates as Rishi Sunak did in the previous Spring Budget in 2022.
Tobacco taxes earnt the government around GBP 10.7 billion – 1.2 per cent of the total tax income – in 2022, according to The Sun. The latest hike in prices comes as the government is aiming to make Britain “smoke free” by 2030 and hopes higher prices will deter people from buying cigarettes.