Overall, the pandemic and rising health concerns among the population did not provide any overwhelming impetus to quit smoking among consumers. In fact, the opposite trend was observed amongst many smokers in Bulgaria in 2020 who believed that smoking helps prevent the “cytokine storm” - one of the main causes of fatalities from the COVID-19 virus.
During the pandemic, many premium tobacco companies introduced extensions in the mid-price band. For example, Imperial Brands launched Davidoff Reach and Davidoff Shape.
The closure of on-trade establishments as part of the measures to control the spread of COVID-19, together with a devastated tourism season, also continued to have a negative impact on cigarette consumption in 2021. The mass summer season is usually an important driver of tobacco consumption, including cigarettes, as Bulgaria has the lowest prices for tobacco and alcohol in the EU.
Over the forecast period, smoking prevalence is set to continue to decline in Bulgaria, resulting in the shrinking of the consumer base for cigarettes. This will mainly be driven by health and wellness trends as people in Bulgaria increasingly become aware of the dangers of smoking.
From 1 July 2022, the excise duty on cigarettes is expected to grow by over 5%, leading to the price increasing from BGN177 per 1,000 pieces to BGN187 per 1,000 pieces. As such, a box of cigarettes is set to become 20 stotinki more expensive.
Over the last ten years, the tobacco giant Philip Morris International has spoken out in favour of banning cigarettes. In fact, the manufacturer plans to phase out sales of its most recognisable brand Marlboro.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Cigarettes industry in Bulgaria with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
If you're in the Cigarettes industry in Bulgaria, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
Cigarettes
RETAIL SALES OF DUTY PAID CIGARETTES The definition of cigarettes for the purposes of this study is duty-paid, machine manufactured white-stick products. This does not exclude brands of cigarettes that do not use white paper but it is designed to exclude the volume of non-machine manufactured products such as bidis/beedis (India) and papirosy (Russia), and other smoking products made with tobacco but that either do not resemble cigarettes as recognised in the US or Europe, or those that are not machine manufactured. The exclusion of these products is intended to give a more accurate picture of the "true" market for cigarettes and cigars which has been distorted in official statistics and published reports because of the inclusion of hybrid products. NB Please note that due to its central importance and integration into the industry mainstream, Indonesia’s market data does include hand-rolled kreteks DUTY-FREE sales are excluded from retail sales, as are herbal cigarettes. ILLICIT TRADE CIGARETTES Not included in retail sales, but split out separately in volume terms only. Defined as non-duty paid cigarettes (includes smuggled & counterfeit/fake products combined). Legitimate cross-border sales are considered duty-paid. Sales arising from a foreign national purchasing cheaper cigarettes in bulk in a neighbouring country for personal use and exported back are attributed to the country where the purchase is made (e.g. bulk cigarette sales by British nationals in France are attributed to France).
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Cigarettes research and analysis database.
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