Cigar Imports

If Q4 goes like the nine months before it, this will be the fourth consecutive year that the U.S. has broken the previous record for premium cigar imports. That said, something weird is going on with the Dominican Republic’s numbers.

While imports are only up 1.1 percent compared to 2023, that trend would make 2024 a record-setting year for premium cigar imports. Nicaragua remains the largest player, accounting for 60 percent of the cigars imported into the U.S. in 2024.

This year seems on track to match last year’s record number of cigars. That said, many cigar companies have been talking about a more noticeable sales slow down of late.

Nicaragua, the dominant exporter of premium cigars, has increased its market share to over 60 percent according to the Cigar Association of America. Through the end of May, imports are within 350,000 cigars of last year, i.e. right on track.

After a strong April, 2024 premium cigar imports are staying in line with last year’s record-setting year.

Per the Cigar Association of America, the U.S. imported 96.95 million premium cigars in the first three months of 2024. As has been the case for quite some time, more than half of those cigars came from Nicaragua.

From 2021-2023, cigar companies imported what previously amounted to four years worth of premium cigars in just three years.

It seems possible that 2023 might actually beat out the record-setting number of premium cigars imported to the U.S. in 2022.

There were 46.6 million premium cigars imported to the U.S. in August, a drop of 3.5 percent compared to last year.

The CAA’s latest report shows imports aren’t keeping pace with the record year of 2022, but they are still incredibly strong compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.

While imports were down 8.8 percent from the record-setting pace set last year, 2023 has been noticeably stronger compared to where the cigar market was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.