Cigarette sales and advertisement drop nationwide, report says

Sales of traditional cigarettes continued a downward slide, dropping by 5.3% in 2018, according to a report released this week by the Federal Trade Commission.  

The largest companies in the country sold 216.9 billion cigarettes in 2018 to wholesalers and retailers, or 12.2 billion fewer units from the 229.1 billion sold in 2017.

The industry has been experiencing this annual downward trend since 2000, when sales volume was at 413.9 billion.  

The amount of money spent on advertising and promotion decreased during that same period, from $8.6 billion to $8.4 billion, according to the report. However, 2018 saw an increase in spending on “outdoor” advertising, such as billboards and bus benches, from $1.8 million in 2017 to $2.4 million.

Sales for smokeless tobacco, such as chewing tobacco, also experienced a slump. Previously, in 2017, companies sold 130.9 million pounds, while 128.4 million pounds were sold in 2018.

Price discounts paid to cigarette retailers, $6.15 billion, and wholesalers, $1.05 billion, were the two largest expenditure categories for the year. 

This latest report comes amid a U.S. outbreak of vaping-related lung illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,506 cases of lung injury from vaping and 54 deaths as of Dec. 17.  

And last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially changed the federal minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21.