Tobacco

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…

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…

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…

There was a significant increase in volume sales of cigarettes 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 Ukraine. Also, inflation…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Slovakia’s cigarettes market continued to decline in 2023 after new excise taxes were introduced, leaving smokers under growing economic pressure to downgrade to more affordable cigarettes or seek out alternatives. Rising demand for soft cigarette…

Cigarettes saw strong growth in retail volume terms in 2023. Sales were boosted by the end of the pandemic and the return to more normalised behaviour in terms of work and socialising. The end of the pandemic lowered concerns about the complications…

Sales of cigarettes experienced a slight decline in volume terms in 2023. Sales saw strong growth in 2022 as large numbers of refuges entered Poland following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In 2023, many of these refugees from Ukraine returned to…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

In 2023, cigarettes in Estonia witnessed another year of retail volume sales decline. The downward trajectory is partly due to consumers becoming more conscious of health and therefore likely to quit the habit. However, the major reason for the fall…

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…

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…

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…

Despite continuously rising prices, cigarettes in Croatia saw a further increase in retail volume sales in 2023, albeit a moderate upturn and significantly slower than in 2021 and 2022. Croatia is one of the rare EU markets that is seemingly showing…

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…

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,…

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 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…

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…

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…

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…

Cigarette consumption in Bulgaria recorded a marginal decline in 2023. The switch to alternative products among younger adults, such as heated tobacco products and single use cigarettes, has become very popular over the last year. Millennials and Gen…

Smoking prevalence in Bosnia and Herzegovina has continued to decline throughout the review period, a trend that persisted into 2023, exerting a downward pressure on cigarette consumption. This decline is attributed to a growing number of…

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…

Although smoking prevalence is declining in Lithuania in terms of cigarettes, consumers in Lithuania are very open to new innovations. Therefore, while volume sales of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco decline in 2022, sales of…

Latvia’s tobacco industry had a good year in 2022 as demand for cigarettes increased, largely as a result of more stringent efforts to curb the clandestine trade in illicit cigarettes smuggled into the country from Russia and Belarus, while closed…

Sales of e-vapour products posted double-digit growth in current value terms in 2022, following a very successful couple of years in 2020 and 2021. Closed system single use products remained the most popular option in 2022 with the category remaining…

Closed system single use e-vapour products continued to register outstanding sales growth in Latvia in 2022, in the process recording the most impressive performance of any category across the country’s tobacco market during the year. These products…

Sales of cigarillos boomed in 2020 and 2021. Part of this growth stemmed from the excise tax tariff on these products, which allowed players to be more flexible with their pricing. Price fighter cigarillos in particular saw exceptional growth in…

2022 saw significant declines in demand for cigars and cigarillos. In cigars, the sales declines registered in 2022 form part of long-term negative sales trends that have been evident in the category for many years. In cigarillos meanwhile, declining…

Retail volume sales of cigarettes continued declining in 2022 and at a faster rate than during the previous year. Consumers are already aware of the threat posed by smoking, but the pandemic created a more immediate threat which served as further…

Retail volume sales of cigarettes generated positive growth during 2022, despite the declines seen in smoking prevalence in the country over the course of the year. The main reason for this seemingly anomalous situation is the significant decline…

As with all fmcg industries in the country, the war has strongly impacted the tobacco market in Ukraine. For example, there is a much-diminished consumer base, with approximately eight million people – some 20% of the population – estimated to have…