Tobacco

As with all fmcg industries in the country, the war has strongly impacted the tobacco market in Ukraine. For example, there is a much-diminished consumer base, with approximately eight million people – some 20% of the population – estimated to have…

In 2023, tobacco in the Czech Republic continued to develop towards newer product types with perceived less harmful effects on health. Regular cigarettes remained the largest category, but retail volume sales continued on a strong downward…

Overall, the picture was positive for tobacco in 2022, largely driven by a growth in volume sales of cigarettes. This was in spite of high inflation stemming from the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Part of the reason for the increased…

A new set of excise taxes continued to push retail prices upwards in 2022, which put an additional strain on the already weakened budgets of smokers in Slovakia. Inflationary pressure was also a key factor contributing to double-digit growth of…

Overall, the picture was negative for tobacco in 2022, with constant value sales falling, and this was largely driven by a drop in volume sales of cigarettes. Twice yearly tax hikes on cigarettes, which are scheduled to continue until 2025, are…

Cigarettes remain the most common choice of tobacco for the majority of smokers in 2022 and was the main driver of tobacco overall, despite the unit price increase. Widespread distribution across all retail channels in Romania supports the…

Despite the declining prevalence of smoking in Poland, the cigarettes category performed exceptionally well in 2022, exceeding industry expectations. Several factors contributed to this upward trend, including declining sales of illicit cigarettes,…

Smoking prevalence continued to decline in North Macedonia in 2022 under the influence of the health and wellness trends, as fewer people are starting to smoke, especially amongst younger generations. This trend negatively impacted sales of…

Although smoking prevalence is declining in Lithuania in terms of cigarettes, consumers in Lithuania are very open to new innovations. Therefore, while volume sales of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco decline in 2022, sales of…

Latvia’s tobacco industry had a good year in 2022 as demand for cigarettes increased, largely as a result of more stringent efforts to curb the clandestine trade in illicit cigarettes smuggled into the country from Russia and Belarus, while closed…

The normalisation of social activities and relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions positively impacted the tobacco market in 2022, leading to a rebound from its decline in 2021. Initially, there was optimism for the summer and rest of the year, as…

Tobacco registered constant value and volume growth in 2022, despite high inflation, which was caused the energy crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine. Geopolitical tensions in the region also led to a significant increase in the number of…

Overall, the picture remained bleak for cigarettes in Estonia in 2022, with the category seeing a further sizeable drop in volume sales during the year. Several factors led to the volume decline in cigarettes. More people gave up smoking completely,…

In 2023, there were no sharp changes in excise tax or, therefore, product prices in tobacco in Croatia. More stable prices helped to avoid declines in retail volume sales at the end of the review period. However, the growth in retail volume sales of…

Tobacco in Bulgaria witnessed robust growth in 2023, with retail volume growth driven largely by the growing appeal of alternative products in the form of e-vapour products and heated tobacco. Cigarette smoking remains very popular due to its low…

In 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina witnessed significant changes in its tobacco landscape, marked by declining smoking prevalence and notable economic factors influencing consumer behaviour. A growing health consciousness among the population has led to…

Smokeless tobacco, heated tobacco and e-vapour products in Bulgaria posted dynamic growth despite rising unit prices across all categories. The growing popularity of such products has led to higher excise duty on e-liquids and nicotine free liquids,…

Heated tobacco was the fastest growing tobacco product in Slovenia in 2022, with volume sales increasing significantly. Consumers see it as a compromise between smoking and adapting a habit that is less harmful for their health. While promotion of…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in Croatia performed well overall in 2023, although chewing tobacco and moist snuff remained negligible. Both e-vapour products and heated tobacco are on an upward retail volume sales…

Closed system single use was amongst the strongest performers in smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in 2022, albeit from a low base. The category’s rapid expansion was in part down to the emergence of closed system single use…