Tobacco

While cigarettes were recording a second year of positive growth in 2022, boosted by further normalisation post-pandemic, enabling a fuller return of mobility, inbound tourists and social lives, there was a mixed picture in the newer alternatives to…

Technological advances in 2024 will continue to reshape consumer behaviour. This annual report explores the top five digital shopper trends that will redefine commerce the most in the year ahead. Some of the trends included in this report’s edition…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries in Q4 2023 and 2024. Global inflation is moderating, although divergence remains among the key economies. Higher volatility in the energy markets and disruption of…

With social mobility returning to pre-COVID-19 levels post-pandemic, cigarettes have experienced the fastest volume growth in a decade, mainly fuelled by increased consumption occasions. The working population, including 316 million Millennials and a…

The Indian government took measures to prohibit direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco, following its ratification of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the…

Manufacturers express deep dissatisfaction with the current taxation of cigars and cigarillos, which equates them to cigarettes. Manufacturers argue that these products are considered luxuries and are less addictive, with most consumers not inhaling…

With mobility returning to pre-COVID levels, the frequency of consumption occasions has increased. This has led to the fastest volume growth in a decade, primarily driven by India's sizable population of working individuals. As of 2022, according to…

Tobacco in Pakistan has a mixed layout. The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the major grower of tobacco crops, while Pakistan Tobacco Co Ltd and Philip Morris (Pakistan) Ltd hold the majority stake in the industry, due to their dominance of…

The market for reduced risk products (RRPs), including e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn tobacco products (heated tobacco products) and vaping products was populated with imports at the end of the review period. With the rise in import taxes, the category…

Considered a luxury and leisure item, cigars are smoked by customers who are affluent, and the category is niche in Pakistan. Moreover, retail volume sales of cigarillos, pipe tobacco and fine cut tobacco remained negligible in 2022. Although, the…

Retail volume sales of cigarettes decreased in 2022. In general, demand dropped due to higher taxes, as well as customer migration amongst traditional smokers, to other products, but also cheaper cigarettes brands. Meanwhile, many young consumers of…

Cigarettes still dominate the tobacco category in Uzbekistan, with 2022 achieving a more positive trend in retail volume sales compared to the previous year. This was fuelled by organic population growth, with the number of adults of legal smoking…

In January 2023, the Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of the most anticipated amendment of the Tobacco Hazard Prevention Act. The amendment includes raising the smoking age to 20 years of age, increasing the proportion of warning pictures…

E-vapour products made a strong rebound in 2022 following the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply issues were common in 2020 leading to shortages and, consequently, price rises. This led to consumers searching for cheaper options.…

Cigars and cigarillos are considered niche products in Uzbekistan as they are not as widely consumed as regular cigarettes. They are typically sought out by those seeking luxurious and prestigious items, with many purchased as gifts or for special…

Cigars and cigarillos have achieved steady growth as consumers increasingly choose to consume more sophisticated products. While cigarillos face lower taxes than cigarettes, they are the same price as cigarettes making them an attractive option to…

Following a period of decline, retail volume sales of cigarettes showed a more positive trend in 2022. This was supported in part by a rise in the Uzbek population as well as a rise in immigrants from Russia. The war in Ukraine led to the…

The Taiwanese authorities continue to be active in discouraging the usage of tobacco products via both health campaigns and enforceable restrictions that limit consumers’ smoking occasions. Moreover, under new laws the legal smoking age will be…

Kazakhstan has strong trade links with Russia in particular and its war in Ukraine negatively impacted the economy and led to high inflation. While skyrocketing international oil and gas prices boosted the local economy, its usual outflow to the…

For e-vapour products, there was a significant increase in constant value sales, with sales increasing by a fifth. In particular, closed single-use vaping systems registered huge growth. Their popularity is growing due to ease of use and a wide…

Cigars and cigarillos registered a healthy increase in volume sales in 2022 and benefitted from people socialising again, as society was fully opened up, post pandemic lockdowns. Though cigarillos are much more popular in Kazakhstan than cigars, the…

In 2022, there was a significant fall in volume sales. Authorities in Kazakhstan have been implementing tough anti-tobacco policies and these are bearing fruit, with smoking prevalence falling in 2022. A further rise in excise duty was another…

With the exception of cigarettes, tobacco products - such as cigars and cigarillos, heated tobacco, and e-vapour products - commanded growth in 2022. The decline in smoking prevalence and governmental support for smokeless alternatives such as heated…

In 2022, the Japanese tobacco industry continued the trend of cigarettes recording a retail volume decline and heated tobacco products recording volume growth. While the tax on heated tobacco was increased in October 2022, heated tobacco maintained…

With the passing of the RA 11900 or the Vape Law in 2022, there is a stricter regulatory environment regarding the manufacturing and importation, as well distribution and sales, of e-vapour products and heated tobacco. These categories registered…

In 2022, heated tobacco continued to grow strongly despite a tax increase in October 2022. Heated tobacco had been classified as pipe tobacco for the tax category, and the tax had been determined by converting 1g of product weight into one stick of…

With the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions in 2022, the disrupted supply of imported cigars that was seen in 2020 and 2021 was less of an issue at the end of the review period. The niche market of cigars and cigarillos and the efforts of…

Cigarillos recorded dynamic retail volume growth from 2016 to 2020. However, the boost to sales ended in 2021, with the category turning to decline. In 2022, an exceptional decline was seen, with retail volume sales falling to half the 2021 level.…

In spite of the efforts of incumbent players to put forward cost containment measures in order to retain prices as much as possible, 2022 proved to be a challenging year for cigarette industry players. With the higher excise taxes in 2022, cigarette…

In 2022, cigarettes continued to record a decline in retail volume sales. However, the decline was the smallest in recent years, thanks to the end of tax increases. The government conducted a reform of the tobacco tax scheme from 2018 to 2022, to…

In 2022, the tobacco industry in Thailand was seeing some recovery in demand. The industry faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic due to government measures aimed at reducing infection rates. These restrictions, including closures, social…

Thailand's cigar and cigarillos market is relatively small and dominated by imported cigars, with a limited number of local manufacturers. Cigars and cigarillos are perceived to be premium products by Thai consumers and as such are mainly only…

The cigarette market in Thailand has seen a significant decline in recent years due to increasing health concerns, government regulations, and higher taxes on tobacco products. The Thai Government has implemented several policies to reduce tobacco…

Tobacco in Vietnam returned to normal sales figures in 2022, after seeing a growth slump in 2020-2021 due to the event of COVID-19 and associated social distancing restrictions and lockdowns. However, after the Vietnamese government lifted these…

In 2022, the tobacco industry in South Korea experienced surprisingly strong current value growth. While cigarettes in South Korea saw a slight retail volume decline, this became much more moderate compared with pre-COVID-19 years, and value sales…

Retail volume sales of cigarettes continued to decline in 2022, taking them below pre-pandemic levels. The economy price band was the least impacted by retail volume declines, aided by some consumers trading down to more affordable brands.…

Inflationary pressure increased commodity prices and the cost of living in Malaysia in 2022 and led many smokers to trade down to more affordable cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos or shift to cheaper options altogether, such as fine cut tobacco, as…

Tobacco in Indonesia recorded stronger growth in 2022 than in the previous year, largely thanks to an increase in economic activity with the country having suffered through the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020. The purchasing power of consumers…

In 2022, retail volume sales of cigarettes remained fairly stagnant, seeing only a minor increase, with sales limited by the fact that smoking prevalence in Hong Kong has decreased over the years thanks to a series of tobacco control initiatives. The…

The pandemic and associated lockdowns did not have a material impact on tobacco consumption in China. Both retail volume and current value sales of cigarettes continued to witness stable growth, driven by stable consumer demand, and product…

Cigarettes continued to dominate the Azerbaijan tobacco market in 2022 despite posting a decline in the year due to a combination of factors. In 2022, cigarettes players faced challenges due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict causing a shortage of…

E-vapour products in China was devasted by a substantial package of industry regulations and policy updates throughout 2022, restricting the production, wholesale, and retail operations of e-cigarette players. The ban on flavoured e-vapour products,…

Smokeless tobacco had a negligible presence in Indonesia in 2022, with a limited number of sellers selling these products, with sales mainly limited to retail e-commerce. Nonetheless, Tigersnus, a Swedish-style snus, has been produced in Indonesia…

Heated tobacco products saw very strong, if slower, retail current growth and positive retail volume growth in 2022. The competitive price of heated tobacco when compared with cigarettes afforded the category good growth potential. In addition, wider…

Heated tobacco products experienced another year of current value and volume growth in 2022. Smokers who were not ready to quit smoking, but were sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke, chose heated tobacco products, looking for an option they…

Closed system single use products witnessed significant growth in 2022 due to rising interest among young adults and women who appreciate the variety of flavours they offer. The devices are also benefiting from their wide availability, being sold in…

On 30 April 2022, the sale of alternative smoking products came to an end in Hong Kong. The legislation prohibited the import, promotion, manufacturing, sale, or possession of any kind of alternative smoking product, including e-vapour products and…

E-vapour and heated tobacco products remains an underdeveloped category in Vietnam, however, this is expected to develop further over the forecast period. During 2022, the Vietnamese government and associated authorities, especially the Ministry of…

Cigars continued to register a strong performance in 2022, with double digit volume growth. However, cigars remain relatively niche and attributed to higher-income consumers such as businessmen and executives, due to their expensive prices. Moreso,…

In 2022, cigars and cigarillos in South Korea saw significant growth. Increased consumer interest in cigars since the pandemic was the main factor supporting growth. According to local keyword search statistics from Naver, consumer searches for…