Cigar consumption in Europe (2011-2020)
Cigars and cigarillos are niche products within a much larger manufactured tobacco market and constitute enjoyment products, which contribute only marginally to smoking prevalence across the EU.
The market for cigars and cigarillos continues to decline across Europe (from 10 billion sticks in 2011 to 8.85 in 2020) with no signs that this trend will reverse anytime soon.
Estimated Market Shares of Tobacco Products in the European Union in 2019
| Number of units, billions | % of total market | |
| Factory-made cigarettes | 458.4 | 80.1 |
| Fine-cut tobacco | 79.25 | 13.8 |
| Heat-not-burn products | 12.3 | 2.2 |
| Cigars and Cigarillos | 9.23 | 1.6 |
| Smokeless tobacco | 7 | 1.2 |
| Pipe tobacco | 6.5 | 1.1 |
| Total | 572.68 | 100.0 |
Source: DG TAXUD, Releases for consumption of cigarettes and fine cut tobacco (2002-2019), ECMA figures for cigars/cigarillos and Euromonitor International; Tobacco Industry Edition, 2021 for heat-not-burn, smokeless and pipe tobacco products. The estimate of ‘units’ for the fine-cut, smokeless and pipe tobacco categories are based on a conversion of tonnage data at 1 gramme per piece. These figures include consumption in the United Kingdom.
Sales developments of cigars in the EU 2012-2020 (in millions of units)
| Countries | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| EU TOTAL | 10.001 | 9.926 | 10.395 | 9.243 | 9.141 | 9.062 | 9.243 | 8.860 | 8.847 |
Source: ECMA estimates based on market data. For comparison purposes, these figures do not include consumption in the United Kingdom.
Revenue from tobacco excise duty (in € millions)
| 2019 | Country | Cigarettes | Cigars and Cigarillos | Other Smoking Tobacco (including Fine Cut Tobacco) |
| Belgium | 1898,04 | 12,4 | 574,15 | |
| Bulgaria | 1335,3 | 1,5 | 61,79 | |
| Czech Republic | 2066,53 | 7,89 | 103,03 | |
| Denmark | 994,74 | 5,62 | 47,76 | |
| Germany | 12248,2 | 87,14 | 1908,27 | |
| Estonia | 220,03 | 1,79 | 8,73 | |
| Greece | 2202,28 | NA* | NA* | |
| Spain | 6114,57 | 100,44 | 625,85 | |
| France | 10537,22 | 225,64 | 1819,88 | |
| Croatia | 687,05 | NA* | NA* | |
| Ireland | 1127,55 | 6,74 | 2,45 | |
| Italy | NA | NA | NA | |
| Cyprus | 146,41 | 2,95 | 28,49 | |
| Latvia | 216,92 | 2,68 | 7,79 | |
| Lithuania | 279,05 | 3,48 | 13,41 | |
| Luxembourg | 422 | 2,02 | 203,71 | |
| Hungary | 854,85 | 9,55 | 247,03 | |
| Malta | 91,18 | 0,36 | 6,1 | |
| Netherlands | 1949,67 | 11,1 | 633,88 | |
| Austria | 1894,2 | NA* | NA* | |
| Poland | 4910,85 | NA* | NA* | |
| Portugal | 1297,18 | 19,42 | 70,18 | |
| Romania | 2665,41 | 2,56 | 6,52 | |
| Slovenia | 400,48 | 0,86 | 15,14 | |
| Slovakia | 735,52 | 3,59 | 26,52 | |
| Finland | 796,69 | 33,2 | 89,63 | |
| Sweden | 823,28 | 5,63 | 22,06 | |
| UK | 8396,99 | 86,05 | 1757,67 | |
| Rounded Total | 73.100 | 700 | 8.500 |
* Included under “cigarettes’.