As the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, cigarette sales in the US went up for the first in two decades as tobacco companies spent more money on advertising, reports NPR.

In its annual Cigarette Report, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stated that the sale of cigarettes in the US in 2020 had increased by 0.4 per cent, up from 202.9 billion in 2019 to 203.7 billion.
The report is based on data from four major tobacco companies including Altria Group and Reynolds American and shows that the companies increased their advertising budgets last year. According to the report, USD 7.84 billion was spent on advertising and promotion in 2020 compared to USD 7.624 billion the previous year, reports NPR.
Although the FTC report does not mention the COVID-19 pandemic or suggest the numbers reflect the global situation at the time, it was widely reported that cigarette companies had profited from bulk purchases and so-called “pantry loading” as lockdowns hit.
"In 2020, total nicotine consumption in the US was up 3.4 per cent. So clearly the pandemic had an impact on the overall total nicotine delivery category," NPR quotes Don Burke, senior vice president at Management Science Associates in Pittsburgh.