Concerns over the safety of vaping may also have driven smokers back to tobacco, prompted by a spree of mysterious lung illnesses linked to some devices
U.S. cigarette sales rose for the first time in 20 years in 2020 following a ban on flavoured vaping products and tax rises on electronic cigarettes.
Sales rose slightly to 203.7 billion cigarettes – a 0.4 per cent increase from the 202.9 billion sold in 2019, according to the annual report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The report did not provide an explanation for the increase in sales among the country’s four major tobacco companies, but industry insiders have attributed the rise to growing government regulation of e-cigarettes and an increase in the number of U.S. states imposing levies on vaping products.
Pandemic-related isolation is likely to be another key factor behind the increase in tobacco sales.
Altria Group, maker of Marlboros, recently stated that the 2020 lockdowns saw cooped up Americans “add nicotine occasions to their day”.
Rozina Sabur – The Telegraph – 2021-10-29.