After an appreciable but more limited fall in volume sales in 2020, sales of cigarettes dropped strongly once again in 2021, although with a slower fall in current value terms due to the high level of taxation. 2021 was more challenging than 2020 for cigarettes, due to the more limited closure of borders – for a period of around four or five months, in comparison with more than seven months in 2020.
The decline could have been worse in 2021 if taxation had continued to increase. France has the highest level of taxes, and thus prices, in continental Europe under the impetus given by President Macron (EUR1 per year from 2017 to early 2020).
Thanks to its popular brands Marlboro and Philip Morris, both of which have huge brand equity, Philip Morris continued to account for the leading volume share in cigarettes in 2021. However, the issue for Philip Morris is that its Marlboro flagship brand has seen a significant price increase, and is also the most counterfeited brand, and thus continued to see a strong sales and share decline in 2021.
The outlook for sales of cigarettes in the short term is likely to be poor. As the country recovers from the COVID-19 outbreak, the return of illicit cross-border purchases, primarily from Belgium and Spain, will have a negative impact on retail sales.
If there is such a price increase, it will favour e-vapour products, and mainly cigarillos and fine cut tobacco. The previous dominance of cigarettes is waning in France.
According to legislation in the European Union, menthol flavoured cigarettes have been banned since May 2020. Some mainstream cigarette manufacturers have been circumventing this with two alternatives – menthol capsule blond cigarillos and “fresh” cigarettes.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Cigarettes industry in France with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
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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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