Report: More Premium Cigars Imported to U.S. in 2021 Than Any Year on Record

There was a record-setting 456.3 million premium cigars imported to the U.S. in 2021 according to the Cigar Association of America (CAA). The staggering number is the highest number of imports the CAA has recorded in the history of its estimated data, which dates back to 1977.

Given the preliminary data from CAA throughout the year, it’s of no surprise that the final number was more than 400 million, though the fact that it reached as high as it did is a but surprising. For context, the CAA estimates there were 364.4 million premium cigars imported in 2020, meaning there was a 25.2 percent increase.

While the increases over 2020 were substantial, it should be noted that December showed clear signs of a slowdown. Not only was it the only month that didn’t exceed 2020 imports, the 36 million premium cigars imported represented a 23.7 percent drop. Furthermore, the relatively flat numbers in October and November mean that Q4 as a whole was a 6.8 percent decrease compared to 2020.

The CAA’s report makes the downturn clear showing a chart of the imports versus a rolling average line.

CAA calculates these numbers based on both the import numbers provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Customs Services and information from cigar companies themselves. The trade group’s numbers are not exact because of reporting differences; it estimates how many “large cigars” were actually “premium cigars.” The differences between the two are that there are some machine-made cigars that meet the U.S. definition of a “large cigar,” though those cigars would not be considered premium cigars by most people.

Update: The CAA has clarified that 2021 was in fact a record-setting year and not simply “the highest level since 1997.”