Japan Times reported that the country’s cigarette sales dropped to lower than 100 billion sticks in 2020, the first time this has happened in decades. Data from the Tobacco Institute of Japan showed that In fiscal year 2020, which ended in March, combustible cigarette sales dropped by a record 16.3% from the previous year to 98.8 billion sticks, the lowest figure since 1990 and a 70% drop from the highest record of 348.3 billion sticks in 1996.
The lower number in 2020 most likely comes from smokers choosing heated tobacco products instead, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales of heated tobacco products in 2020 was 41.3 billion sticks, or about 40% of cigarette sales. Other causes for the cigarette sales dropoff are stricter smoking regulations and the availability in the market of new heat-not-burn products from tobacco companies.
According to Japan’s health ministry, the country’s smoking rate steadily declines, with latest figures from 2019 revealing that 27.1% of men and 7.6% of women regularly smoked, dropping from 29% and 8.1% the year before.