In 10 months of 2023, Russia imported 268.5 million packages of cigarettes (a pack of 20 cigarettes each), which is 2.1 times more than the same period last year (128.7 million packages), according to the review of the CRPT (operator of the Honest Sign labeling) for tobacco and nicotine-containing products, which was reviewed by Interfax.
The information presented in it is obtained from the state information system for monitoring goods in Russia (GIS MT).
In October, imports rose to 27.1 million packages from 19.3 million a year ago.
As specified in the review, cigarettes make up the majority of tobacco products imported into Russia. In October, they accounted for 94% of imports.
In addition, 1,166,000 cigars (539,000 a year ago) and 14.5 million packages (10 ml each) of liquids for the electronic nicotine delivery system were imported to Russia in 10 months. In October, cigar imports rose to 50,000 from 35,000 a year ago.
According to the review, cigarettes account for most of the products produced in Russia. In 10 months, 7.7 billion packages were produced, compared to 7.5 billion in the same period last year. But in October, production fell to 639.2 million packages from almost 805 million packages a year earlier.
There is a similar dynamic in the heated tobacco market, which ranks second in terms of share of total production. Its output in 10 months increased to 868.4 million packages (20 pieces each) against 626.9 million a year ago. In October, there was a decrease to 92 million packages from 101.8 million in October last year.
The production of hookah tobacco, which ranks third in total production, decreased to 87.6 million packages (30 g each) in 10 months from 92.8 million a year ago. But in October, an increase was recorded to 8.9 million packages from 7.4 million in October last year.
The production of cigarillos in January-October reached 51.3 million packages (20 pieces each), which is almost twice as much as a year ago (26.2 million). In October, their annual output was slightly higher - 5.409 million packages against 5.391 million packages. The production of chewing tobacco in January-October this year reached 4.3 million packages (13 g each) against 2.2 million packages a year ago. The October figure also increased significantly - to 533 thousand packages from 314 thousand a year earlier.
In addition, tobacco companies produced 229 thousand cigars in 10 months compared to 178 thousand in the same period last year. In October, production remained at the level of last year - 24 thousand units.
In total, according to the review, the production of tobacco and nicotine-containing products in the country for 10 months amounted to 8,691,557,000 packages against 8.25 billion packages for the same period last year. In October, production decreased to 747.1 million packages from 920.9 million in October last year.
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