While fewer and fewer cigarettes are sold in Germany, sales of cigars and cigarillos are increasing significantly, according to an analysis by the Federal Statistical Office. In total, 74 billion cigarettes were officially sold last year. This is about 1.9 percent less than in 2017. For all other tobacco products, however, there was a plus, because smokers are more likely to grab cigars and pipe tobacco or even turn.
In Germany, there are currently estimated to be more than 16 million smokers. Statistically, one in seven dies as a result of smoking, as a study from 2017 shows. This puts Germany above the global average.
Anyone who stops smoking reduces the risk of various diseases. For example, smoking is directly responsible for about a fifth of all cancers, but heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes or chronic bronchitis are also often attributable to smoking. Anyone who has smoked or smoked, also shows a much higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis - joint inflammation.
Sales of cigars and cigarillos rose significantly in the past year - up 6.5 percent to three billion units. The sales of pipe tobacco increased by 2.7 percent. These include tobacco for hookahs and novel pipe tobacco products, so-called evaporators. The amount of taxed fine-cut for self-rotation rose slightly by 0.2 percent and amounted to a good 24,000 tonnes.
Decline is the trend
In total, tobacco products worth € 26.4 billion were taxed last year. That was 1.7 percent more than in 2017. Of this, 14.2 billion (minus 0.5 percent) went to the Treasury. The decrease led the Wiesbadener authority particularly on the decreased cigarette sales back - the most significant position among the tobacco products.
The German cigarette association (DZV) reacted calmly to the development. "The decline is in line with the trend we expected in the annual consumption estimate," said DZV CEO Jan Mücke. So far there is no indication that smokers in Germany increasingly buy cigarettes abroad. According to a DZV study for January to November 2018, the proportion of cigarettes from abroad has fallen slightly to about 17.6%.