TEHRAN: A total of 2.6 billion cigarettes were produced in Iran in the first month of the current fiscal year (started March 21), registering a 63% increase compared with the corresponding period of last year, the head of the Center for Tobacco Planning and Supervision said. About 250 million cigarettes were imported during the same period, down 87% year-on-year, SHATA reported. Ali Asghar Ramzi added that 45 billion cigarettes were produced in Iran in the last fiscal year (March 2016-17), registering a 50% rise compared with the year before, which met 82% of domestic demand for cigarettes. Last year’s imports stood at 4 billion cigarettes, down 76% year-on-year.
Smuggled cigarettes, according to the official, decreased by 30% from 8.6 billion cigarettes two years ago to reach 6 billion last year. According to the Health Ministry, Iranians smoke about 55 billion cigarettes annually. The government aims to call a complete halt to cigarette imports and meet domestic demand through local production instead.
