PM USA continued to dominate the shrinking US cigarette market last year with a 51.4 per cent share, which parent company Altria said was marginally higher than in 2015.

Cigarette volume fell 4.8 per cent in the fourth quarter and was down 2.5 per cent to 122.9 billion sticks in 2016. Marlboro accounted for 44 per cent of the US market last year, unchanged from the year before. Fourth-quarter volume of the flagship brand fell 4.8 per cent to 24.85 billion sticks. Last year 105.3 billion Marlboro cigarettes were shipped, representing a decline of 2.6 per cent.
Sales of smokeable products stripped of excise tax rose 1.4 per cent to USD 16.6 billion (EUR 15.5 billion) in 2016. Adjusted operating profit for the sector was 5.3 per cent higher at USD 8 billion. At US Smokeless Tobacco, after-tax sales rose 9.7 per cent last year to USD 1.9 billion. Copenhagen and Skoal moist-snuff brands represented a retail share of 52.2 per cent.