By the end of 2024, Russians' spending on cigarettes increased by 18.9% year-on-year, to 1.4 trillion rubles, according to a press release (available from Kommersant) from the Honest Sign state labeling system. The most cigarettes, as a year earlier, were bought in the Magadan region and Kamchatka — 120.9 thousand and 115.7 thousand packs per 1,000 people, respectively.
The top 10 also includes: the Trans-Baikal Territory (108.7 thousand packs per 1,000 people), the Sakhalin Region (106.4 thousand packs), the Amur Region (100.6 thousand), the Jewish Autonomous Region (96.8 thousand), the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (89.2 thousand), the Murmansk Region (89.0 thousand), Karelia (88.9 thousand) and Komi (88.9 thousand).
The growth of Russians' spending on cigarettes is primarily due to the whitewashing of the market, said Honest Sign. Before the labeling was introduced, the share of illegal cigarette trafficking was estimated at 15.6%, and by the third quarter of 2024, this figure had dropped to 10.8%. Against this background, cigarette sales increased by 9.8% year-on-year in 2024, said Artem Kiryanov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy.
Another reason for the increase in costs was the increase in the single minimum price, which the government sets from 2021. In 2022, a pack of 20 cigarettes cost at least 112 rubles, in 2023 — 119 rubles. Starting from January 1, 2025, the minimum price was increased to 135 rubles.
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