Tobacco sales in Cape Verde fell again in 2022 to 103 million cigarettes, reversing the previous year’s recovery, which at the time was the first increase in four years, according to data from the Cape Verde Tobacco Company.
According to the Sociedade Cabo-verdeana de Tabacos (SCT) 2022 report and reports, which Lusa had access to this Monday, total cigarette sales fell 7% from 2021, offsetting a 3.2 % in 2021. In 2022, compared to 2018, almost 20% fewer cigarettes were sold in Cape Verde.
The Cape Verdean tobacco company, which has a monopoly on activities in the archipelago, sold 103,163 thousand cigarettes (more than 103 million cigarettes) in 2022 against 110,971 thousand (almost 111 million cigarettes) in 2021 or a peak reached in 2018, 127,865 thousand (nearly 128 million cigarettes).
Nearly half of the tobacco sold in Cape Verde in 2022 was from the Portuguese brand SG Gigante, launched in the 1950s (locally produced in Cape Verde), with over 44.7 million cigarettes, according to the SCT report and accounts. company established in 1997 and owned by the group of companies (51.15%) and the municipality of Sala (12.50%), with the remaining share capital placed on the stock exchange.
The SG Gigante brand continued to be the most profitable brand with sales of 498.7 million escudos (4.5 million euros).
Tobacco brands linked to the island of Sao Vicente, headquarters of the SCT, also saw a drop in unit sales in 2021, cases of Porto Grande to 24.8 million cigarettes and Falcões to 7.8 million.
The cigar and cigarillo business in Cape Verde was virtually unchanged last year, despite almost doubling from the previous year to 11,950 units sold.