ABSTRACT
Demand for tobacco goods grew steadily but not spectacularly between 1955 and 1961. A number of minor increases in duty, which caused marginal upward adjustments in trade and retail prices, were more than offset by the steady rise in average income per head. From 1961 to 1965, however, there was a reversal in this trend in consumption by weight (Figure 16), although in terms of number of cigarettes sold this was no more than a temporary check, as will be seen from Table 71. This followed an increase of 4d. on the retail price of twenty class B cigarettes imposed by the ‘Regulator’ in 1961; and a further downward influence on the market was exercised by the Report of the Royal College of Physicians on the possible relationships between smoking and health which was published in March 1962. There was some recovery in consumption by weight in 1963, but once again there was a cutback in 1964 following another duty increase, which led to a rise of 4d. in the retail price of twenty class B cigarettes.
