Despite the issues, the industry is still a large one. The global tobacco market was worth roughly 764 billion U.S. dollars in 2020; a value that is set to reach over one trillion U.S. dollars by 2026. In the United States specifically, the market value of the tobacco industry stood at approximately 108 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 and is likewise projected to increase with each consecutive year.
From 2001, U.S. cigarette exports declined significantly, reaching a low in 2012. From 2013, the U.S. trade value was on the rise once more, peaking at roughly one billion U.S. dollars in 2018 before collapsing again in 2020. That year, Canada was by far the largest trade partner of the United States for the product. Between 2012 and 2013, cigarette import numbers had more than doubled in the United States, from just under 200 million to over 415 million U.S. dollars. In subsequent years, the U.S. import value had remained above the 400 million U.S. dollar mark.
In 2020, the most popular nicotine product in the United States was without a doubt the cigarette. That year, cigarettes made up about four fifths of the nicotine product shipment volume in the country. While vapor cartridges made up a very small amount of the shipment volume compared to cigarettes, the product category did experience an approximate 170 percent increase in its shipping volume in 2019. Cigarettes, on the other hand, experienced a decrease of about five percent. This is unsurprising, as overall sales of cigarettes in the United States have been declining for many years, while awareness surrounding the dangers of smoking has increased. Between 2001 and 2018, the number of individual cigarettes that were sold in the country, was almost reduced by half.
