The cigarette black market reached 18.2% of the total cigarette consumption in Romania in July 2018, a 2.1 percentage point increase versus May 2018.

This is the highest level recorded this year and well above the 2017 average of 16%.

Romania’s North-East region continues to be the most affected by the illegal cigarette trade. The black market in this region stands for almost 40% of the total cigarette consumption, due to the proximity to Ukraine and Moldova, from where cheap whites are smuggled into the country.

However, the country’s western regions recorded the highest increases in cigarette smuggling. In the North-West region, the black market reached 29.4% of the total consumption, up 14.7 pp over May. In the South-West region, the black market also went up by 6.2 pp, reaching 26.9% of the consumption.

editor@romania-insider.com