Cigarettes market drops in value

The Polish cigarettes market is shrinking, noting 3 billion fewer cigarettes sold in January-August 2014 than in the same period of 2013, reported Dziennik Gazeta Prawna on Thursday. Simultaneously, the gray economy is becoming increasingly popular. The negative trend is the result of several factors. Firstly, the gray economy offers cheaper cigarettes, what encourages smokers to give up on legal cigarettes. The illegal market generated losses of PLN 508.7 million as of 2013. Secondly, an increasing number of people are quitting smoking. Companies also organize special anti-nicotine therapies for their employees. The smoking ban in public places, causing a general aversion towards cigarettes, is another factor that influences the decline in cigarettes sales. The excise tax, imposed by Poland on cigarettes, constitutes the majority of their price. A package of cigarettes for PLN 11.85 includes PLN 10.08 of the excise tax, says Małgorzata Czajkowska-Malinowska MD from the Polish Association of Lung Diseases (Polskie Towarzystwo Chorób Płuc).