French smoked 49.9 billion cigarettes in 2024. 18.75 billion were black market. Black market share exceeded 37%. France accounts for nearly half of EU cigarette smuggling. High prices fuel black market demand. Smuggled and counterfeit cigarettes widely available. Counterfeit trade hits 400 million packs yearly. Criminals earned over 2 billion euros from counterfeits in 2023. That rivals 3-4 billion euros from drugs.