Western Europe

Cigarettes were in decline in Western Europe in 2022, but sales of next-generation products were increasing – with this expected to continue in the coming years. Disposable vapes recorded dynamic growth in the UK, the region’s biggest e-vapour…

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…

In the upcoming years, consumers and businesses face an array of challenges, with income inequality, mass migration and rising uncertainty about another crisis being among the major ones. Nevertheless, within this lie untapped opportunities. This…

After seeing retail volume growth in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, cigarettes experienced declines in 2021 and 2022, in line with the longer-term trend towards decreasing smoking prevalence. As a large proportion of the economically active…

In 2022, heated tobacco products maintained a strong performance, as more smokers adopted these as an alternative to cigarettes. Price promotions on devices, notably the entry-level compact device Iqos Iluma One by Philip Morris, contributed to…

Sales of both cigars and cigarillos recorded solid retail volume growth in 2022. Many smokers consider cigar smoking as an occasional indulgence rather than a daily necessity, and are less likely to try to quit smoking or to reduce their consumption…

The long-term trend of declining volume sales of cigarettes continued in 2022, with consumers increasingly aware of the levels of harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. Cigarettes posted negative performances in both retail volume and current value…

Additional duty increases in 2022 compounded increasing inflation. As a result, price-conscious local consumers are migrating toward more affordable products, such as economy cigarettes, or turning to illicit trade, which increased in 2022. Sales of…

Closed-system single-use vapes continued to be the highest-performing e-vapour product in this category in current retail value terms in 2022, thanks to widespread availability through a range of retail channels and local consumers, particularly…

Increasing cross-border tobacco sales, competition from illicit trade, another tax increase that further reduced the price gap between economy cigarettes and fine cut tobacco, and the emergence of closed system single use products negatively impacted…

Cigarette sales in Ireland registered significant volume declines in 2022, as a result of a return to pre-pandemic levels of international travel, which saw cross-border and duty-free sales increase once more. This trend, which has been seen across…

Sales of combustible tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco continued to decline in both volume and real value (at constant 2022 prices) terms in 2022. Any sales increases in current value terms were mostly being…

From 1 July 2022, tobacco heating devices have been facing the same regulatory conditions as combustible tobacco products. That means that there is an advertising ban and display ban in place for these products, a minimum age of 18 years to buy and…

One of the leading factors contributing to decline in sales of smoking tobacco over the last two years was that the excise tax increased in 2021. The government in the Netherlands is now increasing the excise on smoking tobacco at the same time as it…

Some smokers have been switching to cheaper brands of cigarettes in order to reduce their expenditure on these products. This was being driven by the reduction in purchasing power as a result of the high inflation rates being seen in the Netherlands,…

While total current value sales growth for tobacco in Turkey in 2022 was markedly faster than in 2021, this was primarily due to soaring inflation fuelled by the depreciation of the lira, the global recovery from the pandemic and the fallout of…

Fine cut tobacco was by far the most dynamic performer within cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Turkey in volume sales terms in 2022, recording a triple-digit growth rate. Because these products are significantly cheaper and more economical…

Retail volume sales of cigarettes in Turkey declined sharply in 2022. The contraction was mainly due to spiralling inflation fuelled by the depreciation of the lira, the global recovery from the pandemic and the fallout of Russia’s invasion of…

Smoking prevalence in Sweden continued to decline in 2022 reaching just 6% nationwide. Indeed, low smoking prevalence has been a topical debate for some years now. Nevertheless, more Swedes continue to give up the smoking habit while new generations…

Tobacco retail value sales continued to rise in 2022, boosted by the recovery of the Portuguese tourism industry and continuous investment by industry players in alternative products made from non-combustible materials, namely heated tobacco.…

In 2022, cigarette sales in Norway experienced a decline, following the expected trend. The country had witnessed significant growth in cigarette volume sales during the pandemic, primarily due to reduced cross-border trade with Sweden. However, as…

New generation tobacco products, namely e-vapour products and heated tobacco, are under the spotlight in terms of developments and driving sales growth for tobacco products in Greece. Within vapour products, the key development was the introduction…

New generation tobacco products, e-vapour and heated tobacco (nicotine pouches were not available in Greece), remained under the spotlight of development and key growth drivers for tobacco, both in terms of retail value and volume sales. They…

In 2022, disposable vapes and nicotine pouches were the two stand out products in the smokeless category. The migration from the Swedish-style snus to nicotine pouches continued in 2022. Snus is already a well-known product in Sweden and a popular…

Tabaqueira has made a significant investment in heated tobacco with positive effect to the overall category. Since the launch of HEETS, new consumers have started using heated tobacco in Portugal, bolstering overall sales. With more favourable…

Nicotine pouches continued to exhibit the most dynamic growth within the smokeless tobacco category. However, compared to 2021, the growth rate slightly slowed down, attributed to the increased cross-border trade with Sweden, which almost reached…

Following several years of volume decline, cigar and cigarillos saw a very marginal increase in retail volume sales in 2022. Border trade is typical in tobacco products within the Nordic region, and the return of Norwegian buyers in Sweden supported…

The increase in tobacco taxes in 2022, combined with inflation-fuelled price rises, led to double-digit current value growth in cigarillos. However, with lower prices compared to cigarettes, cigarillos have become a more popular option for consumers…

Resuming cross-border trade in Sweden led to a decline in domestic sales of tobacco products in Norway in 2022, following a spike in sales during the COVID-19 years of 2020-2021. Norwegians have a preference for purchasing tobacco products in Sweden…

In line with most tobacco manufacturers in Greece, players in the category de-invested from traditional tobacco products and shifted their focus to new generation options, namely e-vapour products and heated tobacco. These new generation products are…

Sweden’s smoking population is extremely low by European and indeed global standards, with numbers continuing to decline in 2022 as consumers transition away from cigarettes. This translated into another year of decline for cigarettes, at least in…

Although smoking prevalence continued to decline in Portugal, despite the gradual shift to non-combustible products, retail volume and current value sales increased in 2022. The recovery of tourism in the aftermath of the pandemic supported a rebound…

In 2022, the retail volume sales of cigarettes experienced a decline in Norway as a result of the reopening of borders and the resumption of cross-border trade, particularly with Sweden. The popularity of tobacco products in cross-border trade and…

Retail volume sales of cigarettes rose, but only very marginally, in 2022. Following over a decade of strong retail volume sales decline, the category is starting to show signs of stabilisation. However, the competition with heated tobacco remained…

Cigarettes consumption continued to decline in 2022, although at a slower rate than seen in pre-pandemic years. Indeed, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (stress, anxiety) were still being felt, further compounded by global inflationary pressures…

Retail sales of tobacco in Finland registered a slight decline in constant value terms in 2022, as consumption patterns continued to return to their pre-pandemic norms. The market experienced an exceptional year in 2020, due to the impact of the…

Demand for cigarettes continued to cool down in Austria during 2022 as sales edged closer to the levels seen in 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the threat of contagion receded over the course of 2021 and into 2022, COVID-19…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco registered positive sales growth in 2022, with the very strong growth registered in heated tobacco a particular highlight. The strong performance of heated tobacco was essentially the result of…

Despite the nationwide law prohibiting the sale of flavoured e-liquids, whether with or without nicotine, demand for disposable vapes, or closed single use vapes, exploded in 2022. The main consumer base for disposable vapes is young people, who find…

Having overtaken e-vapour products in terms of value sales during 2020, heated tobacco products remained the most dynamic category in smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco during 2022 in current value terms. While e-vapour products…

2022 was a very important year for heated tobacco. Whilst brand iQOS HEETs (Philip Morris Italia Srl) maintains its majority share, we have been seeing increasing activities from other players start to take small shares from the leader. Brand Neo…

Fine cut tobacco registered solid growth in retail volume terms in 2022, while cigars, cigarillos and pipe tobacco all registered a decline. Several factors can explain the positive performance of the category. Firstly, manufacturers have managed to…

While volume sales of cigars and cigarillos combined decreased slightly in 2022, demand for cigars remains at a stable level. Demand for cigars was not strongly affected by the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, nor did it take a notable…

Cigars and cigarillos failed to register any perceptible growth in volume terms in 2022, following a two-year period of buoyant sales as a result of COVID-19. With Finns returning to their pre-pandemic lifestyles, they spent less time working from…

The withdrawal of all COVID-19 control measures in Austria during 2021 and into 2022 led to a complete return to pre-pandemic socialising habits and lifestyles among the local population by the end of the review period. This resulted in a…

Cigarettes saw a slightly stronger volume decline in 2022 than witnessed in 2021, as the era of the COVID-19 pandemic has come to an end and consumers have returned to their out-of-home lifestyles. This decline is to be expected, as the circumstances…

Volume sales of cigarettes declined in 2022. With the ending of pandemic-related restrictions, consumers spent less time at home, which limited the number of smoking opportunities. Moreover, with Finns beginning to travel once again, the border trade…

Volume sales of cigarettes continued to decline during 2022 as the return to pre-pandemic lifestyles led to a normalisation of cigarette consumption patterns. As the spread of the COVID-19 virus was finally brought under control and restrictions on…

Tobacco sales continued on the path to recovery in 2022 backed by an uptick in tourism, an increase in border sales and an increase in social events as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Nonetheless, despite the improved situation retail volume sales…