For the first time in two decades, cigarette sales increased last year during the novel coronavirus pandemic, as tobacco companies ramped up spending to promote their products, according to NPR.
Manufacturers sold 203.7 billion cigarettes in 2020, up from 202.9 billion in 2019, a 0.4% increase, the Federal Trade Commission said in its annual report on cigarettes released on Tuesday.
The FTC compiled the report from data provided by four major tobacco companies — Altria Group, maker of Marlboros; ITG Holdings USA, which manufactures Winston and Kools; Reynolds American, with brands such as Camels and Pall Malls; and Victor Group Limited, which manufactures Pyramid brand cigarettes.
The report said companies increased advertising and promotion to $7.84 billion in 2020 from $7.624 billion the previous year, and focused the bulk of their spending on price discounts paid to retailers in order to lower the price of cigarettes for customers.
The report did not indicate whether the coronavirus epidemic, and subsequent closures last year, had anything to do with increased sales, but "Bloomberg" reported in April 2020 that first-quarter sales had jumped in part as a result of wholesale purchases, indicating that smokers have Stocking up on cigarettes for fear of shortages.
Don Burke, senior vice president at Management Science Associates in Pittsburgh, told CSP: “In 2020, total US nicotine consumption rose 3.4%, so it is clear that the pandemic has had an impact on the overall nicotine delivery category.”
Thanks to the steady decline in tobacco taxes and smoke-free laws, as well as the increased use of programs such as smoking cessation lines, but during the pandemic, fewer smokers were making use of these services, the panel said in a report earlier this year. Citing "the stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic," according to CBS.
But the increase in sales last year is unlikely to represent a long-term trend, as the Nielsen store report for 4 weeks ended March 27 of this year showed that overall sales of conventional cigarettes fell by 4.9%.
Meanwhile, in the same Nielsen report, e-cigarette sales were down slightly, although up 7.5% year over year.
In recent years, sales of conventional cigarettes have been steadily declining, while e-cigarettes have been on the rise, especially among younger people.
A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), last year, indicated that 1 in 5 high school students and more than 6% of adults in the United States now say they smoke e-cigarettes.
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