Young Smokers are More Inclined to Choose Heated Cigarettes(heat not burn tobacco)

The Japan Tobacco Association released statistics on cigarette sales in Japan in 2021 on May 31.

The data shows that the sales volume of paper cigarettes in 2021 will be 93.7 billion, a decrease of 5.2% from the previous year. It has been below 100 billion for two consecutive years. Compared with the peak period in 1996 (348.3 billion), it has decreased by more than 70%.

On the other hand, sales of heated cigarettes(herbal heatstick supplier) increased by 11.4% to 46 billion sticks. The share of total domestic cigarette sales in Japan is 30.8%. This is up from 27.0% in 2021. Since the association started statistics in 2020, it is the first time that heated cigarettes(heated tobako) have exceeded 30% on an annual basis.

From January to March 2022, Japan’s heated cigarettes(heating tobacco) increased by 9.5% over the same period of the previous year to 11.5 billion, and the market share increased by 7.7% from April to June 2020, when statistics were started. The overall harm reduction product market scale is continuing to expand.

Sales of traditional cigarettes have continued to decline since the full implementation of the 2020 amendments to the Health Promotion Act, where no-smoking restaurants and workplaces urging employees to quit smoking have increased. Compared with traditional cigarettes, the smoke smell of heated cigarettes is less noticeable.

Many consumers are gradually transitioning from traditional cigarettes to heated cigarettes.

Judging from the age of use, the proportion of heated cigarettes among people aged 20 to 40 is relatively large, accounting for about 40%. The proportion of heated cigarettes is lower among the elderly, and younger smokers are more inclined to choose heated cigarettes.

There are various reasons for using heat not burn products. 63.1% think “less odor”; 50.5% think “less harmful to people around”; 42.1% think “paper roll is less harmful than cigarette”; 41.9% think “smoke is less” and so on.