Market | Nicoccino

The nicotine market is dominated by cigarettes. There are more than 1 billion smokers worldwide, consuming a total of 5.8 trillion cigarettes in a market estimated to be worth more than 697 billion USD.

Tobacco is one of the main threats to public health globally. The WHO has made the following statements on smoking^:

There are more than 1 billion smokers worldwide.
Tobacco kills 5.4 million people every year – one person every sixth second.
The risks of smoking are built up gradually and we have still not witnessed the effects of the increase in smoking in the last few decades.
40 per cent of children worldwide have at least one parent who is a smoker.
Passive smoking kills more than 600,000 people each year.

THE SIZE OF THE TOBACCO MARKET

Looking beyond cigarettes, the comprehensive nicotine market is made up of other types of tobacco products, e-cigarettes and medicinal products.

The organization Tobacco-Free Kids estimate that the cigarette industry alone is worth $697 billion. The cigarette industry is growing globally, with the exception of the Western world where it is contracting.

Market researcher Euromonitor International estimates that the market for e-cigarettes is worth about $2 billion and that growth remains strong.

Euromonitor International also estimated that nicotine products generated a turn-over of approximately €2.4 billion in 2012 and that this product category has an estimated yearly growth of 3-4 per cent.

THE EUROPEAN MARKET

According to Euromonitor International tobacco products had a turn-over of €136.5 billion; medicinal nicotine products, €560 million; e-cigarettes, €500 million.

Within the EU, the share of smokers in the adult population varies between 13 per cent (Sweden) and 40 per cent (Greece). Sweden’s relatively low share of smokers is most likely attributed to the wide spread consumption of “snus”, a tobacco product that is banned on all other markets within the European Union.

THE UK MARKET

According to the British Health & Social Care Information Centre smokers in the UK spent £18.7 billion on tobacco products in 2012. The Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA) claims that in the same year a total of 51.5 billion cigarettes were consumed in Great Britain.

The British Government has imposed a smoking ban in several public settings, including office building and restaurants. A violation of the ban may lead to fines for both the smoker and the owner of the establishment where the violation occurred.

According to Euromonitor International, the UK population spent £128 million on medicinal nicotine products in 2012. The yearly increase on this number was estimated at 6 per cent. According to market researcher Mintel a total of £44 million was spent on e-cigarettes in the UK in 2012; in 2013 the equivalent amount soared to £193 million, an increase of about 340 per cent.