Having plunged by almost a third during 2019, after a significant tax increase led to a surge in cross-border cigarette smuggling, retail volume sales of cigarettes rebounded during 2020. Sales of unpackaged smoking tobacco were banned, and as a result, many consumers came back to cigarettes.
Having expanded significantly during 2019, Illicit trade in cigarettes continued to grow in importance in Georgia during 2020, in spite of restrictions on movement introduced in an effort to reduce the level of COVID-19 infection in the country. Illicit trade had already been rising earlier in the review period, but it surged during 2019 due to new taxation laws that were introduced in January 2019.
Phillip Morris International Inc reinforced its leadership position in cigarettes during 2020, with almost twice the retail volume share of Japan Tobacco Inc – its closest rival. Philip Morris International Inc overtook Japan Tobacco in 2017 after it launched the Phillip Morris and Bond Street brands.
Retail volume sales of cigarettes will decrease by almost a third during the forecast period. The growth of illicit trade will be the main driver of this, as this is highly organised and expected to account for close to half of all cigarette sales in Georgia by 2025.
Over the forecast period, local consumers are likely to become more aware of their health. With the link between physical and mental health now more widely recognised and an ever-growing gym-culture, some consumers will begin to question their smoking habit.
From the beginning of January 2021, tobacco may not be visible in any sales area, including inner areas of shops. This move will mainly affect independent small grocers, which often have cigarettes on display.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Cigarettes industry in Georgia 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).
This report originates from Passport, our Cigarettes research and analysis database.
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