Tobacco

Over the review period, volume sales of cigarettes were on the decline as consumers are becoming more health-conscious. The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily reversed this downwards trend. Tighter border controls during 2020 and 2021 resulted in a…

The tobacco market saw slow growth in Cameroon in 2021 as the government became more aggressive in its targeting of the industry with tax hikes and stringent regulations. Imports of cigarettes declined in 2021, though, from trade interviews, there…

The tobacco market in Denmark in 2021 was characterised by a migration to smokeless categories, including nicotine pouches, vapour products and heated tobacco, as well as declining smoking prevalence in Denmark due to price increases and health…

Overall, the tobacco market in Egypt witnessed healthy growth in 2021 compared with the previous year amid the COVID-19 crisis and stores closures. Problems such as shortages within the supply chain were tackled and were no longer present in 2021,…

The continued border closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic continued to negatively affected sales of tobacco in Sweden in 2021. Tobacco is highly popular as a cross-border shopping item for Norwegians, who often make daytrips to Sweden to buy…

Sales of combustible tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco continued to decline in 2021, along with the fall in the smoking population. This was mainly fuelled by fewer younger people smoking. The government has…

The tobacco market remained stable in Hungary, overall, in 2021. COVID-19 did not cause any major disruption, but there was a big difference in the performance of individual categories. Some segments, such as cigars or pipe tobacco, benefited from…

Tobacco in 2021: The big picture

In terms of cigarettes, smoking prevalence decreased in Greece in 2021, in line with an increase in health awareness, which resulted in more people quitting smoking or switching to alternatives that are positioned as reduced harm options, such as…

In 2021, regulations concerning the manufacture, sale and distribution of traditional tobacco products became stricter. The plain packaging regulation that came into effect in 2019 moved into a new phase in 2021. The regulation stipulates that all…

With increasing concerns over healthy lifestyles and smoking odours, tobacco consumption in South Korea showed a downward trend in 2021, along with the lower smoking prevalence of cigarettes. Since the emergence of the pandemic, the country has…

Tobacco sales in Portugal somewhat recovered after the decline recorded in 2020. Despite further lockdown periods during the year, restrictions eased in the latter months of 2021 resulting in consumers socialising more. Given that many consumers,…

The recovery of tourism and the easing of COVID-19 related restrictions on foodservice establishments resulted in positive retail value and volume sales growth of tobacco products in 2021. Tourists contribute in large part to sales of tobacco…

Overall, the picture was bleak for tobacco in Estonia in 2021, with a fall in current value sales, largely driven by a sizeable drop in volume sales of cigarettes. Several factors led to the volume drop in cigarettes. More people gave up smoking…

In 2021, almost all tobacco categories witnessed a rebound from a low base, due to improved mobility and tax stability. In 2020, tobacco consumption saw a significant decline, as all tobacco categories were deemed non-essential, which resulted in a…

Smoking prevalence in New Zealand has been falling for several years due to a combination of rising health awareness, regular increases in excise taxes on tobacco products, restrictive legislative measures and educational campaigns aimed at…

Tobacco in North Macedonia showed an improved performance in total current value sales terms in 2021, with growth moderately surpassing that recorded in 2020. This was mainly due to unit price increases resulting from changes in excise duty rates, as…

Volume sales of tax-paid cigarettes remain under pressure due to rising taxes, falling income levels and the strong presence of the illicit trade. Despite more intense efforts to control cigarette smuggling, low prices make black market cigarettes…

Overall, tobacco continued its moderate growth trajectory in terms of retail current value growth in 2021, but this was largely due to the continued rise in excise taxes which has boosted unit prices in the industry. Despite continued growth in…

Tobacco continued to register positive volume growth in 2020 and 2021 as rising prices pushed many consumers towards cheaper cigarette brands. In smoking tobacco, local production is rising as players seek to avoid high import taxes. In cigarettes,…