A total of 54.8 billion cigarettes were produced in the last fiscal year (March 2019-20), indicating a 13.7% growth compared with the year before.
While 154 million cigarettes were exported, which registered a 2.7% increase, the ban on imports remained in effect.
Notably, Jordan and Austria made to the list of Iran’s cigarette export destinations for the first time in the year ending March 2020, according to Ataollah Maroufkhani, the head of Industries, Mining and Trade Ministry’s affiliate, the Iranian Tobacco Planning and Supervision Center.
The decision to halt imports does not mean no foreign cigarettes entered Iran; the Industries Ministry estimates that 10.03 billion cigarettes were smuggled into the country in the last fiscal year, as 65 billion cigarettes were smoked in the country during the period, which registered a year-on-year decline of 39.2%.
Tobacco exports stood at 2,374 tons, posting a surge of 161.3% while 21 cigarette and 39 tobacco factories were active last year compared with 20 cigarette and 33 operational tobacco factories in the year before, ISNA reported.
The government earned 17,023 billion rials ($75 million) from tax on cigarette consumption in the year ending March 2020, Fars News Agency reported.
The figure indicates a 50% rise compared with last year.
Tax on cigarette sales increased by 22.8% to reach 7,868 billion rials ($34.7 million) last year compared with 6,406 billion rials ($28.25 million) in the fiscal 2018-19.