Tobacco

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…

Now in its seventh edition, this report explores the top digital shopper trends that will redefine commerce the most in the year ahead. Some of the trends included in this edition touch on topics such as second-hand shopping, community group buying,…

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…

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…

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 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…

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…

In 2022, the tobacco industry continues to witness rising prices due to tax increases and global inflation rates. This has boosted the illicit trade as low-income consumers are finding smoking increasingly unaffordable. Meanwhile, demand for…

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.…

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…

Consumption of tax-paid cigarettes continues to fall in 2022, with many consumers eschewing locally manufactured cigarettes in favour of either illicit imports or traditional cheroots and quids. Demand for the Red Ruby brand continues to decline…

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…

Despite government efforts to reduce smoking prevalence, cigarettes remain popular among the country’s large population of low-income men. Despite the struggling economy, consumers are not likely to cut out smoking but instead, trade down to…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…