The cigar and cigarillo market - France

Cigars are cylinders made of tobacco leaves; consumers light the end (the foot) and inhale the smoke or keep it in their mouth. Cigarillos are smaller cigars that taste more like cigars than cigarettes. Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, the global market for cigars and cigarillos remained on a good growth trend. Cigars benefited from their image as a luxury product and growing Asian demand, while the broader cigarette market tended to decline. After +2% growth in 2019, sales of the Cuban-Spanish joint venture "Habanos" declined by 4.5% in 2020, resisting better than the overall market. France is the third largest consumer of Cuban cigars in the world, behind China and Spain. In France, the cigar/cigarillo market declined 4.1% in volume but grew 4.3% in value in 2021.