Hungary: Tobacco Market Contracts to Smallest on Record

Source from:  Budapest Business Journal  02/25/2014

Nearly 25% of Hungary's legal tobacco market disappeared last year, according to business daily Világgazdaság.

The paper cites figures from the tax authority NAV showing consumption of 9.3 billion cigarettes in 2013, down from 12.5 billion in 2012 and 13 billion in 2011.

Legal trade is held down by the fact that the government limited the points of sale to licensed tobacco shops, while the costs of tobacco goods also increased by 20% last year. Enditem