FTC Releases Reports on 2015 Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Sales and Marketing Expenditures

"The number of cigarettes the largest cigarette companies in the United States sold to wholesalers and retailers nationwide declined from 253.8 billion in 2014 to 244.2 billion in 2015, according to the most recent Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report.

The amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion increased from $8.03 billion in 2014 to $8.24 billion in 2015, due mainly to an increase in spending on price discounts paid to cigarette wholesalers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers.

Price discounts paid to cigarette retailers ($5.45 billion) and wholesalers ($1.5 billion) were the two largest expenditure categories in 2015. Combined spending on price discounts increased from $6.76 billion in 2014 to $6.95 billion in 2015, accounting for 84.3 percent of industry spending.

According to the 2015 Smokeless Tobacco Report, smokeless tobacco sales increased slightly, from 127.8 million pounds in 2014 to 129.4 million pounds in 2015. The revenue from those sales also rose, from $3.42 billion in 2014 to $3.68 billion in 2015..."
Tobacco sales