Eastern Europe

Tobacco saw double-digit current value growth in Ukraine in 2023. After marked upheavals following the outbreak of war in 2022, global tobacco players adapted to the new reality and returned to new launching new products. These launches were mostly…

In 2023, tobacco in the Czech Republic continued to develop towards newer product types with perceived less harmful effects on health. Regular cigarettes remained the largest category, but retail volume sales continued on a strong downward…

Overall, the picture was positive for tobacco in 2022, largely driven by a growth in volume sales of cigarettes. This was in spite of high inflation stemming from the energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Part of the reason for the increased…

Tobacco in Slovakia was impacted by new legislation in 2023, with this set to continue throughout the forecast period as new rules and regulation shape the industry’s progress. Cigarettes saw excise tax increases in both 2023 and 2024, leading to…

Though current value sales of tobacco increased in 2023, constant value sales fell, as inflation continued to be high. Volume sales also only increased marginally.

Cigarettes remains the basic tobacco product for the majority of smokers in Romania and thus it was also the key growth driver for tobacco as a whole in 2023. Widespread distribution across all retail channels in Romania supports the positive…

Sales of cigarettes in Poland declined slightly in 2023 in retail volume terms. In 2022 the influx of refugees from Ukraine strongly revived sales of cigarettes in the country, but the impact of this weakened in 2023. A similar picture was seen in…

Total current value sales growth for tobacco in North Macedonia in 2023 was up markedly on that recorded in 2022. The improvement was primarily attributable to unit price hikes resulting from tax increases and inflationary pressures fuelled by the…

Retail sales of cigarettes in Lithuania are steadily declining as consumers increasingly shift towards alternatives such as vaping and heated tobacco. This trend raises questions about whether the overall popularity of smoking is genuinely decreasing…

In 2023, the major trends in tobacco in Latvia remained consistent with previous years. Sales of regular cigarettes continued to decline, while vaping and heated tobacco products gained popularity. However, an alarming trend was the resurgence of…

Tobacco in Hungary saw a decline in volume terms overall in 2023, attributed to several and various factors. Despite price hikes that remained below the annual inflation rate, the market's largest segments struggled to stem the fall. Volume sales of…

It was a positive picture for tobacco in Georgia in 2023, with healthy volume growth across all tobacco products. This was partly due to an increase in population, as there were increased numbers of immigrants from Russia, as a result of the war in…

Within tobacco in Estonia, cigarettes continued to struggle to maintain demand in 2023. Smoking prevalence in terms of cigarettes saw a further small decrease at the end of the review period. This was underpinned by heightened health concerns as well…

In 2023, there were no sharp changes in excise tax or, therefore, product prices in tobacco in Croatia. More stable prices helped to avoid declines in retail volume sales at the end of the review period. However, the growth in retail volume sales of…

Tobacco in Bulgaria witnessed robust growth in 2023, with retail volume growth driven largely by the growing appeal of alternative products in the form of e-vapour products and heated tobacco. Cigarette smoking remains very popular due to its low…

In 2023, Bosnia and Herzegovina witnessed significant changes in its tobacco landscape, marked by declining smoking prevalence and notable economic factors influencing consumer behaviour. A growing health consciousness among the population has led to…

Smokeless tobacco, heated tobacco and e-vapour products in Bulgaria posted dynamic growth despite rising unit prices across all categories. The growing popularity of such products has led to higher excise duty on e-liquids and nicotine free liquids,…

Heated tobacco was the fastest growing tobacco product in Slovenia in 2022, with volume sales increasing significantly. Consumers see it as a compromise between smoking and adapting a habit that is less harmful for their health. While promotion of…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in Croatia performed well overall in 2023, although chewing tobacco and moist snuff remained negligible. Both e-vapour products and heated tobacco are on an upward retail volume sales…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in Estonia performed well in retail volume sales terms in 2023. E-vapour products and heated tobacco are emerging as the major competitors to regular combustible cigarettes. These product types…

In 2023, e-vapour products in Lithuania continued to show strong growth. A significant number of consumers are shifting from regular cigarettes to alternatives perceived as less harmful, particularly single-use vaping devices and heated tobacco.…

In 2023, retail value sales of e-vapour products and heated tobacco recorded double-digit growth in Bosnia Herzegovina. While the smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption, including illicit trade, continue to decline in the country, two other…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products, and heated tobacco in Latvia continued its upward trajectory in 2023, primarily driven by the increasing popularity of heated tobacco and single-use vaping systems. While this growth trend has been consistent…

Both e-vapour and heated tobacco registered healthy volume growth in 2023. That being said, sales were still low. In particular in terms of e-vapour, there is concern that vaping is as harmful as cigarette smoking. In April 2023, the government…

New regulations were introduced for e-vapour products in Serbia in 2023. Amendments to the Tobacco Law, effective from November 2023, established a new category for electronic cigarettes and associated products, regardless of their nicotine content.…

E-vapour products saw a fall in sales in current value terms in Ukraine in 2023, while heated tobacco products saw growth in both current value and volume terms. E-vapour products experienced a significant change in market conditions in Ukraine…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in Slovakia saw double-digit rises in volume and current value sales growth in 2023. In February 2023, tobacco products were subject excise taxes increase, though retailers of e-vapour products…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in Hungary in 2023 expanded in terms of volume and current value sales. By autumn 2023, all major international tobacco manufacturers had entered the heated tobacco market, with Japan…

Heated tobacco products continued to report dynamic growth in both value and volume terms in 2023. One important reason for the dynamic performance of the category is the local production of heated tobacco and the fact that these products are…

Heated tobacco products was by far the most dynamic of the main categories within smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in North Macedonia in retail volume growth terms in 2023. While this was partly because sales are still emerging…

Closed system single use e-cigarettes turned out to be a big winner in 2023 with the category recording dynamic growth for the second year running. These products are perceived as the easiest e-vapour product for new vapers to approach and use. The…

Smokeless tobacco, e-vapour products and heated tobacco in the Czech Republic continued to develop at the end of the review period. As heated tobacco products are viewed by some as the “future of smoking”, it is essential for the major players to…

Cigars and cigarillos saw a double-digit decline in volume sales in Ukraine in 2023, while smoking tobacco volumes also fell during the year. Both the cigars and cigarillos, and the smoking tobacco categories have suffered significantly during…

Overall, cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in the Czech Republic registered a moderate decrease in retail volume sales in 2023. However, this was mainly due to the decrease in retail volume sales of fine cut tobacco, which dominates in terms of…

Cigars and cigarillos registered significant volume decline in 2022. With cigars and cigarillos being more expensive than cigarettes, smokers opted for cigarettes instead, due to high inflation. In addition, with pandemic restrictions being…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Slovakia saw excise taxes rise sharply in 2023. This move attempted to improve the situation of the Slovak fiscal budget. However, in combination with squeezed household budgets. of Slovak households, raised…

Both cigars and cigarillos registered volume growth in Serbia in 2024, unlike cigarettes, which saw volume sales fall. One reason for the positive performance of cigars and cigarillos is that the price gap between cigarettes and cigars and cigarillos…

The pandemic led to changes in lifestyle and smoking patterns with increased interest in cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco and fine cut tobacco. These products were seen as exotic and tapped into the increasing search for new experiences. Although the…

Sales of fine cut tobacco declined in retail volume terms in 2023. Like cigarettes, this category received a sales boost in 2022 as large numbers of refugees entered Poland following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, in 2023 the influence of…

Fine cut tobacco was the most dynamic performer within cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in North Macedonia in retail volume growth terms in 2023. This product type continued to gain ground as an economical substitute for cigarettes as unit…

The cigarillos category did not see much positive activity in Lithuania in 2023. The major competitive battles are fought outside this category, leaving it with little attention from market players and consumers. However, the government did not…

The year 2023 witnessed significant declines in the demand for cigars and cigarillos in Latvia. This downward trend is indicative of the niche status and limited demand for these products. In the case of cigars, the sales decline observed in 2023…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Hungary saw overall category volume sales fall in 2023. Volume sales of smoking tobacco continued to drop, exacerbated by a more challenging household economic situation. With lower disposable incomes and…

There was a significant increase in volume sales of cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Georgia in 2023. This was partly due to an increase in population, as there were increased numbers of immigrants from Russia, as a result of the war in…

The performance of cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Estonia in 2023 diverged according to category. Cigars and, to a much lesser extent, cigarillos saw faster retail volume growth, compared to 2022, while smoking tobacco saw a stronger…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Croatia continued to see retail volume growth in 2023. The growing interest in cigars among a wider range of consumers pushed up retail volume sales. Previously, cigars were predominantly smoked by…

The economy segment of cigars and cigarillos in Bulgaria has been most heavily impacted by the rising cost of living and high rate of inflation in 2023. The large consumer base of cigar and cigarillo smokers are switching to cheaper alternatives,…

Cigars and cigarillos continued to achieve moderate double-digit retail volume growth in Bosnia Herzegovina in 2023 as consumer demand among niche consumer groups and cigar aficionados remained stable. Both the cigars and cigarillos categories remain…

Cigarettes saw a slight rise in volume sales in Ukraine in 2023. This came after several years of marked volume decline. Amongst the reasons for this upturn in volumes were the low starting base following a steep decline in the previous year because…

A worsening economic situation in 2023 had a significant effect on cigarettes in the Czech Republic. While lower than in 2022, the rate of inflation in the Czech Republic remained high, exerting upward pressure on production and transportation costs…