Tobacco

Although UnionPay is the largest card operator globally by card payment value, it is still far behind Visa and Mastercard outside China across all card segments. Besides commercial cards, its mobile app and QR, in which it has been expanding,…

Japan Tobacco Inc is the world’s third largest international tobacco company, which holds its strongest position in its sharply declining domestic Japanese market. It has substantial shares in the Eastern and Western Europe regions that are also…

The results of Imperial Brands’ new strategy, aiming to consolidate its market share in its five largest combustible cigarette markets where the company has long-standing presence while gradually placing more resources on novel tobacco…

All but uniquely among fmcg industries, tobacco legislation is not simply a guiding element or a means of enforcing consumer standards but a central determining factor in the performance of tobacco markets. As the cumulative de-normalising impact of…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered the most severe global recession since World War II. In Q4 2020, the end of the pandemic started as countries began administering effective vaccines among the population; however, vaccine distribution…

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…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries. Global inflation is moderating, although divergence among the key economies increases. Higher volatility in the energy markets and disruption of agricultural commodities…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries. Global inflation is reaching a peak, although geopolitical risks and uncertainty in the energy market remain key risks. The impact varies between countries, with…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries. Global inflation is moderating, although volatility in the energy markets and faster consumption growth in China are among the key risks that could increase inflation.…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries in 2024. Global inflation is moderating, although divergence among the key economies remains. Supply chain and commodities markets disruptions remain the key risks for…

Slower growth, surging inflation, rising geopolitical risks and an accelerating deglobalisation trend are factors shaping the global economic, financial and trade landscape in 2022 and beyond. Despite the challenges, there are opportunities for…

The pandemic is influencing sustainability in drinks and tobacco. This is evolving to include consumers’ welfare concerns, with brand action on social issues and community needs. The pre-pandemic environmental focus and pledges are retained, even…

Regulators are increasingly focused on taking action to address the environmental impact of consumer and corporate behaviour, and sustainability legislation will become an ever more prominent feature of the operating landscape for business, across…

Closed system single use products showed exponential growth over 2020-2022 and are currently available in most markets worldwide. The emergence of these products raised concerns from regulators over the alleged appeal among youngsters and the…

As the year comes to an end, this report captures the evolution of the sentiment, preparedness, impact, reaction and future measures taken by businesses during 2020 in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while also looks ahead to predict…

As we move into a more atomised world of diverging lifestyle patterns, fragmenting use occasions and blurring categories, consumers are increasingly primed to focus on the desired outcome or intention of their consumption, with nuance and…

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…

The briefing introduces the Cities Households Necessities Spending Index. The index ranks 1,075 cities by household expenditure on non-discretionary items, namely food, housing, and clothing and footwear. This analysis focuses on 160 major cities.…

In 2023, cigars witnessed slower growth in total volume sales in Vietnam than in the previous year. The market has become more mature, with the target consumer group of cigars being limited mostly to affluent consumers. Despite the deceleration in…

Within cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Uzbekistan, pipe tobacco remained the only significant category at the end of the review period. Smoking a pipe remains a very common and traditional activity in Uzbekistan. Despite government…

The volume sales of cigars and cigarillos continued to grow in 2023. However, the category’s performance could have been even better if the price gap with Argentina had not been as large. The latter forced people to buy these products at the other…

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…

In 2023, fine-cut tobacco sales witnessed a robust double-digit volume increase, albeit at a slower pace compared to the Compound Annual Growth Rate observed during the review period. This deceleration can be attributed to market saturation. Fine-cut…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Tunisia registered overall retail volume growth in 2023, albeit due solely to pipe tobacco, as cigars witnessed a slump and fine cut tobacco and cigarillos remained negligible. Moreover, pipe tobacco…

Cigars and cigarillos in the US had an abrupt awakening in 2023, after the category experienced a current value decline for the first time in over a decade. This came off the back of a very strong performance in the pandemic and post-pandemic period…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in the UK returned to positive value growth in 2023, after experiencing a decline the previous year. This growth was mainly driven by a significant rise in unit prices across the category, boosted by constantly…

After cigarettes, pipe tobacco in the United Arab Emirates remains the most popular category in the local industry, which is determined by the historical significance of shisha, the traditional Middle Eastern pipe device. Shisha tobacco comprises the…

In 2023 in the Philippines, cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco was spared the hindrances that beset cigarettes, benefitting from its products’ positioning as niche and appealing to a loyal consumer audience. Cigars Local consumers who gravitate…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco in the Netherlands has been significantly impacted by excise tax increases, particularly for smoking tobacco, which have aligned with hikes in cigarette taxes. On 1 Apr 2023, excise increased on smoking tobacco,…

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 market for cigars , cigarillos and smoking tobacco in Thailand experienced healthy growth in current value terms throughout 2023, with all three segments seeing a significant increase in sales. In the case of cigars and cigarillos, this was due…

According to government data, the import of cigars and cigarillos during 2019 to 2023 increased significantly with 184% growth in volume. The growth of year-to-year got eased in 2023 as the traveling resumed since the fourth quarter 2022.…

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…

Smoking tobacco and cigarillos are both steadily losing popularity in Sweden, particularly among young adults who have been switching to snus and nicotine pouches. Border trade is typical in tobacco products within the Nordic region, with the return…

Cigars and cigarillos saw volume sales fall in Spain in 2023, though smoking tobacco volumes rose significantly during the year. Fine cut tobacco continued to register significant growth in the final year of the review period. Demand continued to…

Cigars and cigarillos in South Korea has shown significant increases in retail volume sales for four consecutive years, with double-digit growth seen in 2023. One of the main drivers behind the growth in consumption of cigars and cigarillos is a…

Traditionally, shisha that incorporates the use of pipe tobacco in South Africa was marketed as safe, and made popular during social events due to a positive perception. It is a product that is fairly popular among the younger demographic. However,…

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…

Cigars and cigarillos in Singapore saw a retail volume decline in 2023. However, this followed a huge spike in sales in 2022. The dynamic volume growth in 2022 was due to increased footfall to Singapore’s casinos, due to heightened restrictions in…

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…

In Saudi Arabia in 2023, volume sales in cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco declined while current value sales saw an only marginal rise. Consumers continued to shift from cigars and cigarillos towards vapes and heated tobacco products. Such…

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…

Despite the prices of cigarillos increasing these products still benefited from a more favourable taxation during 2023, and lower average prices compared to cigarettes. Due to a more significant increase in the prices of cigarettes some consumers…

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…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco overall saw double-digit dips in both volume and current value sales terms in 2023. Cigars and fine cut tobacco suffered reduced consumption as a result of economic stress, which also led to low levels of…

In Pakistan, cigars remained the most popular product within cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco, with value sales for the three latter products being negligible. That being said, volume sales are also low for cigars, though cigars registered…

Sales of cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco declined in retail volume terms in 2023. The resumption of cross border trade with Sweden together with price increases in Norway were among the drivers of this decline. During the height of the…

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…

Cigars, cigarillos and smoking tobacco declined steadily in retail volume terms over 2023. The weak economic conditions had a considerable impact on the category’s performance. High inflation weakened consumer spending power, whilst unit prices rose…