According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s annual cigarette, report, the US saw an increase in cigarette sales, albeit a slight one, for the first time in two decades in 2020.
For the first time in two decades, the US saw an uptick in cigarette sales in 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) latest Cigarette Report for 2020. Despite bucking a long-running downward trend, the increase was a marginal 0.4% higher than 2019 figures (203.7 billion cigarettes in 2020, up from 202.9 billion in 2019.) Data for the report was submitted to FTC from Altria Group, ITG Holdings USA, Reynolds American, and Vector Group.
Public health advocates think stress from the pandemic could be the reason why. Erica Sward, assistant vice president of advocacy for the American Lung Association, told The Washington Post the increase in cigarette sales was likely due to people who had previously quit smoking but started again during the pandemic, noting that stress is a primary driver of relapses. In a report earlier this year, North American Quitline Association, which promotes tobacco-quitting services, noted that fewer smokers took advantage of these services during the pandemic due to “stress and anxiety resulting from the pandemic.”
FTC did not indicate the reason for the cigarette sales increase, but noted that tobacco companies increased advertising and promotion from US$7.624 billion in 2019 to US$7.84 billion in 2020, the bulk going towards “price discounts paid to cigarette retailers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers.” The lower prices may have led to smokers buying in bulk to stock up on cigarettes.
The sales increase may not be a long-term trend, though, as the US smoking rate continues to decline. A Gallup survey this past August found that 16% of Americans reported smoking any, nearly statistically the same as the record low 15% smoking rate in 2019.
A separate FTC report, Smokeless Tobacco Report for 2020, showed that the total amount of smokeless tobacco sold in the US also increased from 125.98 million pounds in 2019 to 126.83 million pounds in 2020, representing US$4.532 billion in 2019 and US$4.822 billion in 2020.