The overall value of exported tobacco cigarettes shrank by an average -40% for all exporting countries since 2018 when worldwide shipments of cigarettes were valued at $25.6 billion.
Year over year, worldwide sales for cigarette exports declined by -26.5% compared to $20.9 billion in 2021.
The top 5 exporters of tobacco cigarettes are Poland, Germany, Indonesia, Lithuania and Portugal. Combined, that cohort of major cigarette suppliers sold almost half (48.9%) of globally exported cigarettes.
Among continents, suppliers in Europe earned the most from tobacco cigarettes exported during 2022 with shipments valued at $10 billion or 65.4% of the world’s exported cigarettes. Asia furnished 27.5% of the global total, trailed by African shippers of cigarettes accounting for another 2.9%.
Smaller percentages originated from sellers in Latin America (2.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, North America (1.3%), then Oceania (0.1%) led by Australia and Fiji.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 240220 for cigarettes containing tobacco.
Tobacco Cigarettes Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of tobacco cigarettes during 2022.
- Poland: US$3.7 billion (24.1% of total exported cigarettes)
- Germany: $1.3 billion (8.4%)
- Indonesia: $913.1 million (5.9%)
- Lithuania: $863.3 million (5.6%)
- Portugal: $749.4 million (4.9%)
- Romania: $661.3 million (4.3%)
- Czech Republic: $660.2 million (4.3%)
- South Korea: $630.8 million (4.1%)
- Türkiye: $414.7 million (2.7%)
- Switzerland: $400.6 million (2.6%)
- Singapore: $383.2 million (2.5%)
- Greece: $330.9 million (2.2%)
- Armenia: $320.1 million (2.1%)
- Netherlands: $319 million (2.1%)
- Hong Kong: $295.4 million (1.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped over three-quarters (77.7%) of globally exported cigarettes in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of cigarettes since 2018 were: Greece (up 50.3%), Armenia (up 20.4%), Poland (up 9.7%) and Portugal (up 8.8%).
Major suppliers that posted declines in their exported cigarettes sales were led by: Hong Kong (down -74% from 2018), Singapore (down -63.7%), Germany (down -53.6%), Netherlands (down -44.5%) and Switzerland (down -29.3%).
Searchable List of Tobacco Cigarettes Exporting Countries in 2022
The 100 major exporters of cigarettes in the automated database below accounted for 99.97% of the total value of worldwide cigarette exports.
| Rank | Exporter | Cigarette Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Poland | $3,700,954,000 | -8.8% |
| 2. | Germany | $1,294,662,000 | -5.7% |
| 3. | Indonesia | $913,084,000 | +18.9% |
| 4. | Lithuania | $863,282,000 | +4.7% |
| 5. | Portugal | $749,407,000 | -8.9% |
| 6. | Romania | $661,252,000 | -9.5% |
| 7. | Czech Republic | $660,150,000 | +4.8% |
| 8. | South Korea | $630,781,000 | -7.2% |
| 9. | Türkiye | $414,724,000 | +21.4% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $400,565,000 | -0.8% |
| 11. | Singapore | $383,166,000 | -38.1% |
| 12. | Greece | $330,856,000 | -0.5% |
| 13. | Armenia | $320,106,000 | +33.9% |
| 14. | Netherlands | $319,045,000 | +51% |
| 15. | Hong Kong | $295,362,000 | -43.9% |
| 16. | Serbia | $240,818,000 | +5.2% |
| 17. | Philippines | $232,012,000 | -10.3% |
| 18. | Taiwan | $191,140,000 | -5.2% |
| 19. | Russia | $155,232,000 | -23.2% |
| 20. | United States | $154,214,000 | +12.9% |
| 21. | China | $135,713,000 | -17% |
| 22. | Nigeria | $134,906,000 | +21.1% |
| 23. | United Arab Emirates | $125,695,000 | -97.1% |
| 24. | Belgium | $118,245,000 | +24.8% |
| 25. | Ukraine | $112,635,000 | -65.9% |
| 26. | Spain | $107,357,000 | +68.4% |
| 27. | Thailand | $106,002,000 | -34% |
| 28. | India | $100,149,000 | +17.5% |
| 29. | Vietnam | $90,763,000 | -40.8% |
| 30. | Kenya | $89,871,000 | +1.6% |
| 31. | South Africa | $86,714,000 | -16.4% |
| 32. | Kazakhstan | $86,485,000 | +67.3% |
| 33. | Luxembourg | $83,098,000 | -11.8% |
| 34. | Croatia | $81,128,000 | -15.9% |
| 35. | Bulgaria | $72,502,000 | +19.7% |
| 36. | Panama | $69,739,000 | +44.9% |
| 37. | Brazil | $60,215,000 | +79.7% |
| 38. | Honduras | $59,556,000 | +119.4% |
| 39. | Japan | $57,399,000 | -42% |
| 40. | Canada | $51,199,000 | -7.1% |
| 41. | Aruba | $51,059,000 | +17.3% |
| 42. | Chile | $39,110,000 | -12.8% |
| 43. | Suriname | $38,807,000 | -28.9% |
| 44. | Trinidad/Tobago | $38,290,000 | +18% |
| 45. | Paraguay | $34,008,000 | +108.2% |
| 46. | Senegal | $33,689,000 | -30.3% |
| 47. | Morocco | $32,344,000 | +135.9% |
| 48. | Uzbekistan | $26,673,000 | +268.8% |
| 49. | Tanzania | $22,416,000 | +13.1% |
| 50. | Bahrain | $22,091,000 | +23.3% |
| 51. | Latvia | $22,047,000 | -9.6% |
| 52. | France | $16,950,000 | +82.5% |
| 53. | Belize | $16,600,000 | +67.9% |
| 54. | North Korea | $15,858,000 | +264200% |
| 55. | Pakistan | $14,730,000 | +27% |
| 56. | Myanmar | $14,234,000 | -45% |
| 57. | Macao | $14,155,000 | 0% |
| 58. | Burkina Faso | $12,910,000 | -0.1% |
| 59. | Denmark | $12,866,000 | -6.5% |
| 60. | Ivory Coast | $11,150,000 | +352.5% |
| 61. | Australia | $10,926,000 | -18.3% |
| 62. | Uruguay | $10,730,000 | +2.6% |
| 63. | Malaysia | $10,350,000 | -46.7% |
| 64. | Burundi | $9,685,000 | +58% |
| 65. | Moldova | $8,958,000 | +3.1% |
| 66. | North Macedonia | $7,058,000 | +5.7% |
| 67. | Estonia | $6,977,000 | +40.3% |
| 68. | Cambodia | $6,254,000 | +0.3% |
| 69. | Italy | $5,604,000 | -23.1% |
| 70. | Dominican Republic | $5,127,000 | -14% |
| 71. | Azerbaijan | $4,767,000 | +168.3% |
| 72. | Laos | $4,325,000 | -87.9% |
| 73. | Finland | $4,235,000 | +30.7% |
| 74. | Sri Lanka | $4,163,000 | -60.4% |
| 75. | Bangladesh | $3,163,000 | +29.7% |
| 76. | Hungary | $2,426,000 | -96.2% |
| 77. | Sweden | $2,272,000 | +188.3% |
| 78. | Zambia | $2,200,000 | -34.2% |
| 79. | Guatemala | $1,790,000 | +5.4% |
| 80. | Eswatini | $1,581,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Botswana | $1,510,000 | -2.8% |
| 82. | Georgia | $1,429,000 | +31.8% |
| 83. | Tajikistan | $1,189,000 | -30.5% |
| 84. | Norway | $1,150,000 | +1725% |
| 85. | Barbados | $1,126,000 | +214.5% |
| 86. | Fiji | $1,103,000 | +115.9% |
| 87. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,096,000 | -94% |
| 88. | Mongolia | $971,000 | +76.2% |
| 89. | Nicaragua | $881,000 | +96.2% |
| 90. | Lebanon | $879,000 | +48.5% |
| 91. | Belarus | $854,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Cyprus | $818,000 | +16.7% |
| 93. | Colombia | $815,000 | +196.4% |
| 94. | United Kingdom | $800,000 | -22.6% |
| 95. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $595,000 | -68.2% |
| 96. | Curaçao | $512,000 | -73.2% |
| 97. | Cuba | $466,000 | +105.3% |
| 98. | Angola | $378,000 | +103.2% |
| 99. | Namibia | $360,000 | -80.6% |
| 100. | Jordan | $355,000 | +68.2% |
Focusing on the top 100 exporters of tobacco cigarettes, the fastest-growing suppliers year over year were: North Korea (up 264,200% from 2021), Norway (up 1,725%), Ivory Coast (up 352.5%), Uzbekistan (up 268.8%), Barbados (up 214.5%), Colombia (up 196.4%) and Sweden (up 188.3%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns in the above database. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2021 data was available.
Countries Winning Largest Trade Surpluses from Cigarettes
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for tobacco cigarettes during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s tobacco cigarettes exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Poland: US$3.7 billion (net export surplus up 9.2% since 2018)
- Lithuania: $800.5 million (up 3.8%)
- Indonesia: $794.8 million (down -2.7%)
- Portugal: $612 million (up 9.8%)
- Romania: $563.2 million (up 3.6%)
- South Korea: $561.6 million (down -20.8%)
- Switzerland: $377.8 million (down -30.7%)
- Czech Republic: $367.3 million (up 2.5%)
- Armenia: $282.4 million (up 26.6%)
- Türkiye: $230.4 million (down -50.8%)
- Philippines: $209.4 million (up 2.4%)
- Greece: $197.3 million (up 267.1%)
- Serbia: $179.1 million (up 11%)
- Nigeria: $125.1 million (up 96.8%)
- Kenya: $88.4 million (up 38.5%)
Poland accumulated the highest surplus in the international trade of tobacco cigarettes in 2022. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Poland’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Posting Worst Trade Deficits from Cigarettes
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for tobacco cigarettes during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s tobacco cigarettes import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$1.5 billion (net export deficit down -33.2% since 2018)
- Italy: -$1.2 billion (down -42%)
- Spain: -$1.1 billion (down -18.5%)
- France: -$788.2 million (down -31.3%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$424 million (up 3.6%)
- Australia: -$337.7 million (down -44.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$320.5 million (down -17.7%)
- Iraq: -$301.4 million (down -81.8%)
- Belgium: -$291.1 million (down -13.2%)
- Austria: -$254.8 million (down -1.9%)
- Cambodia: -$249.8 million (down -8.3%)
- Israel: -$249.4 million (up 23.8%)
- Vietnam: -$228.9 million (reversing a $153.3 million surplus)
- United Arab Emirates: -$216.6 million (reversing a $3.8 billion surplus)
- Slovakia: -$179.1 million (up 4.6%)
Overtaking Italy in 2022, Japan racked up the highest deficit in the international trade of tobacco cigarettes. In turn, these negative cashflows highlight both countries’ strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for tobacco cigarettes-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from consumers living in those nations.
Tobacco Cigarettes Exporting Companies
Based on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings, the following tobacco companies are among the top largest companies in the world.
- Philip Morris International (United States)
- British American Tobacco (United Kingdom)
- Japan Tobacco (Japan)
- Altria Group (United States)
- Imperial Tobacco Group (United Kingdom)
- Reynolds American (United States)
- ITC (India)
- Lorillard (United States)
- KT&G (South Korea)
- Gudang Garam (Indonesia)
The above corporations are presented in the same order as they appear in the Forbes listing. Shown within parentheses is the country where each conglomerate has its headquarters.
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following are also international suppliers of tobacco cigarettes.
- Bommidala Enterprises (India)
- Cia Sulamericana De Tabacos (Brazil)
- Gunvor International (Netherlands)
- Joh Wilh Von Eicken (Germany)
- Majestica Enterprises (Hong Kong)
- Scandinavian Tobacco (Poland)
- Tabacalera Hondurena (Honduras)
See also Tobacco Cigarettes Imports by Country, Coffee Exports by Country, Tea Exports by Country and Cannabis Oils Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 20, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 20, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 20, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 20, 2023
Wikipedia, Category: Tobacco companies. Accessed on September 20, 2023
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on September 20, 2023