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Smokers in the UK are set to be hit with a hefty new price bump after Jeremy Hunt announced the government would be increasing tobacco duty in his Spring Budget.
The massive jump will see the price of a pack of smokes jump up to £11.80 at 6pm this evening (March 15).
A 20 deck is set to increase by £1.15 under the new rate, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt informing the House of Commons of the update earlier today.
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His announcement came as part of the government’s new Spring Budget as it continues to try and navigate the country away from the dangerous effects of Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis.
The rate on a packet of cigarettes is set to jump 12.7%, keeping pace with the Retail Price Index (RPI), an inflation measuring tool to help keep track of the real value of commodities.
Tobacco products will have an extra 2% added on top of that meaning the actual rate they are set to increase by is actually more like 15%.
This means that the average price for a packet of durries will jump to £11.80 from £10.65.
At the top of the scale, premium smokes could jump from £15.35 to £17.65 in a huge £2.30 surge.
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Rollie smokers haven’t escaped the hike either, with the average price of a 30-gram back of tobacco set to hop from £14.90, up two pounds on the previous rate.
Cigarette prices haven't been hiked since the 2021 budget where 88p was added to the most expensive pack on the market.
That took top-end packs from £12.73 to just over £13.60.
It came off the back of a 2% rise in 2020 when the Chancellor at the time announced a price hike that was above the rate of inflation at the time.
Ministers are currently aiming to make the UK smoke-free by 2030, with less than 5% of the population smoking.
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