With More Remote Work Due to COVID-19... Last Year, Cigarette Sales Declined While Electronic Cigarettes Rose 17%

2021 Tobacco Market Trends

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] As remote work expanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changes also appeared in cigarette sales. While the sales volume of combustible cigarettes slightly decreased, the sales volume of heated tobacco products surged.

According to the '2021 Tobacco Market Trends' released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 28th, the total cigarette sales last year amounted to 3.59 billion packs. Although the overall sales volume remained similar to the previous year with no significant changes, shifts in the proportion by cigarette type were observed. Sales of combustible cigarettes were 3.15 billion packs, down 2.0% from 3.21 billion packs the previous year, while sales of heated tobacco products increased by 17.1% to 440 million packs from 380 million packs the previous year.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "Due to strengthened social distancing and the expansion of remote work, preference for heated tobacco products, which produce no ash and have less odor compared to combustible cigarettes, appears to be increasing."

Additionally, while total sales remained similar to the previous year, compared to sales in 2014 before the cigarette price increase (4.36 billion packs), there was a 17.7% decrease, indicating that the smoking cessation policy effects from tobacco tax hikes are continuing.

Sales of CSV electronic cigarettes and solid tobacco electronic cigarettes have effectively ceased due to decreased demand and the recall of circulating products. In particular, after the severe lung disease outbreak in the United States in 2019, the government recommended discontinuing the use of liquid-type electronic cigarettes three times, leading to a sharp decline in sales.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.