Cigarette sales hit by plain packs

CIGARETTE sales plunged after plain packets were introduced, a study has found.

Researchers looked at sales from May 2015 to April 2018.

During this time factory-made cigarette sales fell from 2.33billion to 2.04billion, according to research in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control.

Branded packs were banned in 2017. Chief researcher Professor Anna Gilmore, from the University of Bath, said the ‘standardised packaging has led to a significant decline in tobacco sales’.

The research also highlighted the impact of the minimum excise tax which was also introduced in 2017. The tax stops cigarette companies cross-subsidising cheaper cigarettes – which attract younger smokers – by increasing prices of their premium brands.