Spain Cigarette Market Competition: Ken Research

The report titled “Cigarettes in Spain”, provides a comprehensive analysis of Spain’s cigarette industry, demographics of cigarette market, leading players in cigarette industry, excise tax on cigarettes, advertisement policies, government measures to curb illegal sales, and future of cigarettes industry in Spain.

Industry Overview and Demographics: Spain has made a huge progress on tobacco control in the recent years but people continue to die and become sick. The country does not make any effort to implement the tobacco control tools for its citizens’ wellbeing. Consumption of tobacco is injuring consumers’ health, the treasury, and the spirit of Spain. Almost every year, more than 58,000 of Spain’s population die due to by tobacco-caused disease. On the other hand, more than 75,000 children and 960,000 adults continue to use tobacco and its products on a daily basis. It was observed that the deaths due to tobacco boosts the tobacco industry in Spain and also ensures that tobacco’s death toll grows every year.

More men and children smoke in Spain on average everyday and more men die compared to the other countries. The monetary cost of smoking in Spain amounts to 21 thousand million euros every year. The direct costs are related to healthcare expenditures and indirect costs are related to lost productivity due to early mortality and morbidity rates in Spain. The tobacco industry is a powerful force in Spain that does not fear any actions due to their extensive resources and global market power. Thousands of metric tons of tobacco is produced in Spain every year. More than 3 billion cigarettes are produced in Spain and cigarette imports exceeded cigarette exports in the country.

Advertisement Policies: Spain has banned all forms of direct and indirect advertising of cigarette on national TV, national radio, international TV, international radio, local magazines, newspapers, billboard, outdoor advertising, at point of sale and on advertising on internet. It also banned cigarette advertisement in free distribution in mail or through other means, promotional discounts, non-tobacco products identified with tobacco brand names, brand name of non-tobacco products used for tobacco product, appearance in TV and/or films: tobacco brands (product placement), complete ban on sponsorship, any form of contribution (financial or other support) to any event, activity or individual and ban on the publicity of financial or other sponsorship or support by the tobacco industry of events, activities, and individuals. Smoking is banned in all public places completely such as healthcare facilities, educational facilities, universities, government facilities, indoor offices, restaurants, pubs and bars, public transport, and all other indoor public places.

Performance of Cigarette Market in Spain: A stable growth was observed in Spanish cigarettes market in the recent years, with only marginal declines. Despite increase in excise taxes on tobacco products, the sales did not suffer significant decline. Spain government has taken measures recently such that some brands such as Marlboro and Chesterfield will not increase their prices, therefore, reducing their margins and shaped the overall performance of the cigarette market. The Spanish authorities made strong efforts to control smuggled tobacco within the country which has led to a decline in the illicit cigarettes. Also, the Spanish authorities closed the largest illegal tobacco production plant in the year 2016. Consumers’ demand for illicit tobacco has witness a downtrend in the tobacco sales in Spain.

Future of Spain’s Cigarette Market and Leading Players: Philip Morris is the leading cigarette player with more active innovation profile in Spain than its competitor, Altadis. Philip Morris Spain has launched its first e-cigarettes in 2015 under the Solaris brand and first heated tobacco product in 2016 under the IQOS brand. Cigarettes are sold at the specialist retailers and vending machines in Spain. Few measures are exerted on distribution to control illicit tobacco and illegal sales of tobacco. Therefore, tobacco specialist retailers hold a strong share of distribution in Spain. The Spanish economy has witnessed a positive growth rates over the past years and will continue in the next few years although there is no enough support in the growth in sales of cigarettes.

Key Topics Covered in the Report: