Overseas tobacco companies have expanded their market share in Korea to 30 per cent over the last ten years, while the market share of Korea Tobacco & Ginseng (KT&G) fell from 90 per cent to 60 per cent.

Industry figures out Sunday show that KT&G sold 29.67 billion cigarettes in the first half of this year, down 3.5 per cent from a year ago. In the third quarter, KT&G sold 16.2 billion cigarettes, down 500 million cigarettes or 3 per cent on-year. Its market share for the first half stood at 64.1 per cent, dropping to 62.5 per cent in the third quarter. The market share of rivals, mostly foreign firms such as British American Tobacco and Philip Morris, rose to 37.5 per cent.
KT&G's market share has been dwindling since international tobacco companies launched aggressive marketing campaigns in Korea, plummeting over 30 percentage points from 93.5 per cent in 1999. Total sales of tobacco in Korea shrank from 106.6 billion cigarettes in 1998 to 94.9 billion last year. (pi)