63% Rise in Inbound Cigarette Smuggling

EghtesadOnline; A total of 7.36 billion cigarettes were smuggled into Iran during the five months to Aug. 21, indicating a 63.2% increase compared with the corresponding period of last year, the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade reported.

News ID: ۷۵۱۱۱۰

27 September 2020

An estimated 27.08 billion cigarettes were smoked during the period, registering no significant year-on-year change.

Cigarette exports stood at 71 million during the period, indicating a 184% increase YOY.

Domestic production stood at 19.79 billion, registering a 12.4% YOY decline.

The government has banned the import of cigarettes to Iran for a long time now.

A total of 54.8 billion cigarettes were produced in the last fiscal year (March 2019-20), indicating a 13.7% growth compared with the year before.

Cigarette exports saw a 2.7% increase to stand at 154 million.

“Jordan and Austria made to the list of Iran’s export destinations for cigarettes for the first time in the year ending March 2020,” Ataollah Maroufkhani, the head of Industries, Mining and Trade Ministry’s affiliate, the Iranian Tobacco Planning and Supervision Center.

The ministry estimates that 10.03 billion cigarettes were smuggled into Iran in the last fiscal year, as 65 billion cigarettes were smoked in the country during the period, which registered a year-on-year decline of 39.2%.

Tobacco exports stood at 2,374 tons, posting a surge of 161.3% while 21 cigarette and 39 tobacco factories were active last year compared with 20 cigarette and 33 operational tobacco factories in the year before, ISNA reported.

The government earned 17,023 billion rials ($60 million) from tax on cigarette consumption in the year ending March 2020.

The figure indicates a 50% rise compared with the year before.

Tax on cigarette sales increased by 22.8% to reach 7,868 billion rials ($27 million) last year compared with 6,406 billion rials ($22 million) in the fiscal 2018-19.

The Statistical Center of Iran's latest report on consumer price changes shows the average goods and services Consumer Price Index of tobacco, among 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households in the 12-month period ending Sept. 21, which marks the end of the sixth Iranian month, Shahrivar, increased by 13.9% compared with the corresponding period of the year before.

CPI stood at 372.3 in Shahrivar, indicating a 1.4% rise compared with the month before.

The tobacco index, which has the minimum impact on total inflation rate with a coefficient of 0.59%, registered a year-on-year increase of 33.7%.