2021 was a year of normalisation for tobacco in France, which meant that after a better performance in 2020, the industry came back to a level of decline closer to that observed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – in volume terms at least. Decline mainly stemmed from the reopening of borders, that were closed for “only” five months in 2021 – while in 2020 it was six or seven months of closure with border countries with much lower prices, such as Spain, Italy and Belgium, and to a lesser extent Germany, which was thus an exceptional year for tobacconists in the north, northeast and south of France.
The last quarter of 2021 witnessed a major trend reversal in smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco. The main growth drivers of 2020 (closed system rechargeable and cartridges and heated tobacco) saw a slowdown in 2021, while the old and dying niche of closed system single-use suddenly skyrocketed.
In terms of the big four players in cigarettes – Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco, Imperial Brands and British American Tobacco – no major changes were seen in 2021. However, the outright leader, Philip Morris France, could not avoid the drop of Marlboro due to a significant price increase until mid-2020 and the rise of counterfeit products.
2021 confirmed the strength of tobacconists, with newsagent-tobacconists/kiosks seeing a high share of the distribution landscape, although the rate of increase slowed slightly compared with 2020. These retailers were previously jeopardised by the effects of strong tax increases and the declining number of smokers.
After the privileged period from 2020 until mid-2021, local players and other trade sources are rather pessimistic about the outlook for tobacco. Other than the probable disappearance of the previous driver of sales, COVID-19, they fear a sudden wave of taxation and new restrictions after the presidential elections of May 2022.
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Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Tobacco industry in France with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
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Tobacco
Passport Tobacco covers the seven major tobacco categories: Cigarettes, Cigars & Cigarillos, Smoking tobacco (made up of Pipe tobacco and RYO tobacco), Smokeless Tobacco (snuff and chewing tobacco), E-Vapour Products (closed and open); Heated Tobacco; and Tobacco Free Oral Nicotine. Smoking paraphernalia such as pipes, rolling papers, lighters or matches, etc., are not included, nor are nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, which are part of Euromonitor's Passport Consumer Healthcare database.
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Tobacco research and analysis database.
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