Market share data are collected and analysed by a number of different market research groups. Data on sales in grocery stores is compiled by Retail World magazine and published annually in its end-of-year reports, based on a survey of supermarkets and grocery outlets about sales for previous 12 months up to the month of (roughly) September each year. 1 The Nielsen group on the other hand compiles data on sales of products in convenience outlets.2 This is only occasionally published in publicly available sources. Euromonitor International compiles annual data on the total market across all outlets. Data on changes in market share over time for cigarettes of various tobacco blend, pack size and price segment are also compiled by Euromonitor and are available for purchase.3 Similarly, IBISWorld publishes reports on of the performance of major companies and industries in the Australian retail market.4
10.7.1 Market share by company and brand: cigarettes
10.7.1.1 Sales figures relevant to market share
Cigarettes in Australia have almost exclusively been manufactured by three major industry groups: British American Tobacco Australia, Philip Morris Limited, and Imperial Brands. Several smaller tobacco importers have limited product ranges available in Australia, including Richland Express and Patron Group. Table 10.7.2 shows the market share of tobacco companies in Australia by cigarette volume in from 2012 to 2017. Over this period, market share for British American Tobacco and Philip Morris have steadily declined by 5-6% percentage points, while Imperial Brands increased market share by 11 percentage points, overtaking Philip Morris as the second largest cigarette company in 2017. Much of this increase occurred between 2013 and 2014. In 2017, BATA’s market share represented sales of 5.4 billion cigarette sticks, Imperial Brand’s market share represented 4.3 billion sticks, and Philip Morris’ market share represented 4.0 billion sticks. All other companies collectively represented 464 million cigarette sticks in 2017.
Table 10.7.3 shows the leading cigarette brands in 2017, ranked by retail volume. In 2017, JPS continued to be the leading brand in Australia after overtaking Winfield in 2016.6 JPS was launched in Australia in 2009,7 and was one of the first super-value brands (i.e. low-cost relative to other brands) on the Australian cigarette market—see Supplementary Table 10.7.
10.7.1.2 Survey data on cigarette brand preferences
While data on brand preferences among adults has been collected from surveys in Victoria and South Australia, neither the Australian Bureau of Statistics Health Survey or the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s National Drug Strategy Household Survey have asked about brand preferences, and so only limited data are available at the national level.
10.7.2 Market share by brand: roll-your-own tobacco
The Australian smoking tobacco market (including roll-your-own and pipe tobacco) is dominated by two major international tobacco companies, collectively accounting for about 95% of sales.5 Table 10.7.5 shows the volume market share of the smoking tobacco market by tobacco company from 2012 to 2017. In 2017 Imperial accounted for two-thirds of the volume of the smoking tobacco market. British American Tobacco’s share was 27.8%. Table 10.7.6 then shows the leading smoking tobacco brands (all roll-your-own brands) in 2017, ranked by volume.
As of 2017, leading brands of smoking tobacco in Australia were Champion, Drum, White Ox, and JPS produced by Imperial Brands, and Winfield produced by British American Tobacco. These are all roll-your-own tobacco brands, not pipe tobacco.
10.7.3 Market share by brand: cigars
As with all tobacco products, cigars sold in Australia are imported, and the major Australian cigarette companies are not the only tobacco companies to have substantial engagement in the cigar market. Table 10.7.7 shows market share of cigars by tobacco company from 2012 to 2017. Scandinavian Tobacco Group has increased market share to almost 60%, almost double the next largest company, Philip Morris. Table 10.7.8 shows the leading cigar brands in 2017, ranked by volume.
10.7.4 Market share by brand: cigarillos
As with cigars, the cigarillo market is also dominated by importers other than the major Australian cigarette and smoking tobacco companies. Cigarillos are ‘little cigars’, typically sold in packs of five or ten sticks. Some cigarillos are now sold in major supermarkets. Table 10.7.9 shows market share of cigarillos by tobacco company from 2012 to 2017. As with cigars, Scandinavian Tobacco Group dominated the market with more than 60% of volume, followed by Philip Morris with 26.3%. Table 10.7.10 shows the leading cigarillo brands in 2017, ranked by volume.
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( Last updated June 2022 )
References
1. Anon. Discussion with retail world staff, in Retail World2014.
2. Convenience & Impulse Retailing. Nielsen convenience and impulse sales report. Balmain, NSW: Berg Bennett, 2009. Last update: Viewed Available from: http://www.c-store.com.au/industry/acn/acn2009.pdf.
3. Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia − 2008 to 2013, Available for purchase. London: Euromonitor International, 2014. Available from: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco.
4. Thomson J. IBISWorld Industry Report F3606b: Tobacco Product Wholesaling in Australia. Melbourne, Australia: IBISWorld, 2018.
5. Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia—2016 and 2017. London: Euromonitor International, 2019. Available from: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco .
6. Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia. London: Euromonitor International, 2016. Available from: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco .
7. NSW Retail Tobacco Traders' Association. Price lists-cigarettes. The Australian Retail Tobacconist, 2009; 72(5 Aug-Sep):2-6.
8. Retail World. Annual Report 2014. Market sizes and shares. Retail World, 2014; December:30.
9. Retail World. Annual Report 2015. Retail World, 2015.
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19. Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia—2015 and 2016. London: Euromonitor International, 2017. Available from: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco .