South Korea's Tobacco Sales Decrease for the First Time in Four Years
According to a report by South Korean media outlet n.news on January 3, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in South Korea stated that the domestic tobacco sales volume for the year 2023 decreased by 20 million boxes compared to 2019, reaching 3.61 billion boxes. This marks the first decline in four years. The domestic tobacco sales volume dropped from 3.47 billion boxes in 2018 to 3.45 billion boxes in 2019, and then experienced growth in 2020 and 2021, reaching 3.63 billion boxes in 2022.
With the increase in overseas travel amid the pandemic, the sales volume of duty-free tobacco saw a significant growth of 60.7% last year, reaching 1.4 billion boxes. As a result, the actual total tobacco sales volume, combining domestic and duty-free sales, amounted to 3.74 billion boxes, marking a year-on-year increase of 0.8% and achieving growth for the second consecutive year.
A specific analysis of tobacco sales reveals that traditional tobacco sales have decreased by 2.8%, reaching a total of 3 billion boxes. However, there has been a significant growth of 12.6% in the sales of tobacco-filled e-cigarettes, reaching a total of 610 million boxes. Of particular note is the expanding market share of tobacco-filled e-cigarettes in the domestic tobacco market, which was 14.8% in 2022. It is expected to further increase to 16.9% by 2023.
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