TAX on tobacco increased by 2 per cent above inflation in the budget - pushing premium cigarette products to an estimated £9.16.

The price of a typical packet of cigarettes is expected to leap by 16 pence following the announcement, which is in keeping with recent policy.

Retailers and leading manufacturers attacked the move, while anti-smoking campaigners said there should have been a bigger hike.

While increases in the duty on cigarettes has varied in the recent past, a plan to escalate it by 2 per cent above inflation annually was outlined in 2010. This was pushed up to a 5 per cent rise in 2012, but reverted the following year. In 2014 Chancellor George Osbourne pledged to extend the 2 per cent above inflation yearly tobacco tax rise for the whole of the next parliament.

Including inflation, the total increase this year is about 3 per cent.

A spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers' Alliance, which represents thousands of retailers across the UK including Scotland, expressed disappointment. He said: "It's just like Groundhog day. Yet again, there has been another hike in tobacco tax regardless of the impact on the illicit market in the UK. This country is already a magnet for the tobacco criminals because of the high taxation, which is now 80% of the cost of a typical packet of cigarettes. As a result, legitimate retailers like me lose out and organised criminal gangs, who care nothing about selling to under-age smokers, increasingly damage our communities."

Giles Roca, director general of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA), also said the illegal market is growing as "price conscious consumers seek cheaper products elsewhere". He continued: "The illegal market cost HM Treasury £2.1bn in 2013/14 and whilst we recognise the Government's commitment to a renewed Anti-Illicit Tobacco strategy, further tax rises will simply undermine these efforts."

However, charity Ash Scotland said increasing the cost of cigarettes was an effective way to tackle smoking, providing an incentive to help people quit and deterring children from developing a nicotine addiction.

Sheila Duffy, ASH Scotland chief executive, said: "We welcome the decision to increase tobacco duty by 2 per cent above inflation but we believe a higher tax rate of 5 per cent above inflation would be much more appropriate...

"The tobacco industry may complain loudly about the level of taxation, but analysis indicates that nearly 50 per cent of recent price rises in the UK stem from the companies themselves putting up their prices."

She also welcomed a pledge to introduce a registration scheme for users of and dealers in raw tobacco to reduce the risk of the product being diverted into the illegal market.