Cigarettes in Slovakia

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

The upcoming ban on flavoured cigarettes sees players branching into cigarillos in 2019, a tactic to retain consumers who favour flavoured products

Flavoured cigarettes are set to be banned in Slovakia from May 2020. This move is predicted to result in smokers switching to flavoured cigarillos as an alternative.

Illicit trade remains stable in 2019, despite EU regulations, and an upcoming tax increase is set to boost illicit sales further

From May 2019, cigarette packs were obliged to use a unique identification code on packaging, to align to the track and trace system, which allows local authorities to detect contraband products quickly. This measure is set to help identify the product origin, and source locations used for smuggling cigarettes into the EU.

Philip Morris retains the lead, as all players fight back against the rise of heated tobacco in 2019, with aggressive point-of-sale advertising and competitions

Philip Morris continued to dominate retail volume sales of cigarettes in 2019, followed by Imperial Tobacco Slovakia as. The third-ranked player was JTI Slovak Republic sro (with the popular Camel brand) and fourth-ranked was Danczek Bratislava sro.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

In 2020, sales of cigarettes are now expected to record a slight increase in constant 2019 value growth in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to a 4% rise in sales forecast in our 2019 edition of tobacco.

Recovery and opportunities

Constant value growth in cigarettes in 2020 is expected to be slight in Slovakia, due to heightened health concerns, and financial concerns. These financial concerns saw consumers smoking less, or trading cigarettes for smoking tobacco, smokeless tobacco, e-vapours or heated tobacco.

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