The tobacco industry is suffering from sluggish demand, stricter regulations, and heavy tax duties. Although smoking is injurious to health there is still a large population of people around the world who smoke tobacco. The number of smokers and cigarettes produced are on the rise due to population growth. The number of smokers around the world is projected to rise to 1.64 billion by the end of 2025. The beneficiaries will be the world’s six largest tobacco companies, who together control over 83% of the tobacco industry market.
Revenues from global tobacco sales are estimated to be just over $500 billion and the combined profits for the six largest firms will be $35.1 billion. China National Tobacco leads the industry and has a 37.5% market share in the global tobacco industry. The company targets over 350 million smokers. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) maintains roughly 16% of the global tobacco
