Cigarette black market stands at 8.1 pct of the total consumption in January

The cigarette black market was in January 2023 at 8.1% of the total consumption, up by 1.3 percentage points compared to November 2022, when it was at 6.8%, registering the largest increase in the last two years, shows the data published by the research company Novel Research.

"In January 2023, the black market grew nationally by more than 1 p.p. compared to November 2022. The biggest increase in smuggling is recorded in the Northeast, by 8.8 p.p. to 27.9%, the region thus continuing to be the most affected by the illegal trade in cigarettes. An increase of 1.5 p.p. is also noted in the south, up to 4%. From the point of view of the origin of the products on the black market, the Duty Free category holds the largest share in January 2023, of 40%, up by 1.3 p.p. compared to November 2022. "Cheap Whites" registers a slight decrease, by 0.7 p.p., to 32.3%. The share of products originating from Moldova decreases by 1 .5 p.p., to 13.1%, while those from Ukraine and Serbia are at a relatively constant level," said Marian Marcu, Director General of Novel Research.

In 2021, tobacco companies transferred over 19.85 billion RON to the state budget, an increase of 13% compared to 2020.