Despite the gradual increase of tax on tobacco in Georgia which has contributed to a price increase, import of cigarettes was almost doubled and reached US $186.3 compared to 2017.
According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia, this figure was US $101.9 million in 2017,
US $ 201.6 million in 2016 and US $103.1 million in 2015.
The import of cigars and cigarillos is also increased. Last year, cigars for US $ 676 thousand were imported,
In 2017 – US $650 thousand.
The export / re-export is growing in parallel to import. In particular, Georgia exported US $ 148.8 million worth of cigarettes in 2018, which is 3,5 times more compared to previous year.
Cigarettes from Georgia are mainly exported to Azerbaijan.