Morocco to Raise Cigarette Prices and Set Minimum Pack Cost in 2021

From January 1, 2021, the price of a pack of cigarettes will increase by 1 to 2 dirhams, while the minimum retail price of a pack of cigarettes, regardless of its brand, will be set at 22 dirhams, informs Hespress. This decision comes in response to a request made by all the players in the tobacco sector to the government and the price homologation commission for manufactured tobacco products, under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, which meets every 6 months to set tobacco prices in Morocco.

Thus, the commission must hold a meeting soon, to homologate the new prices of cigarettes and products used to power electronic cigarettes, the price of shisha tobacco and cigars that have seen an increase in the Domestic Consumption Tax (TIC), said a source close to the file.

The request for the increase filed individually by the players is justified by the increase in the TIC over the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and also because of the consequences of the tax adjustments they have recently undergone, while "the shortfall, it has to be recovered somewhere" explains the source.

Thus, those who were selling the pack at 20 DHS should increase it by 2 DHS and those who were selling it at 21 DHS will increase it by 1 dirham. For premium cigarette products, operators have full latitude.