According to a report by NPR Radio Kansas, manufacturers sold almost 204 billion cigarettes in the United States last year, a 0.4% increase on 2019, marking the first year that cigarette sales have grown in almost 20 years.
That works out to roughly 620 cigarettes per person.
Kickin' the Habit
To be precise, the Federal Trade Commission, in its annual Cigarette Report, said that manufacturers sold 203.7 billion cigarettes in 2020, up from 202.9 billion in 2019 — an increase of 0.4%.
America has been — slowly — kicking the smoking habit ever since the early 80s. In 1981 cigarette sales peaked at 636 billion, meaning that sales are down more than two-thirds since then.
That longer term trend is probably going to continue. Considering how extreme last year was on so many levels, it's not hard to come up with theories why 2020 might have seen more people reaching for a cigarette, as nicotine can offer a quick hit of dopamine.