The Illegal Cigarette Market Study carried out in Panama in 2021 by Nielsen (Global leader in audience knowledge, data and analytics), based on a random and representative sample of 1,150 packs collected in the main cities of the country, yielded the worrying results of that 87.9 of every 100 cigarettes consumed in Panama are contraband. Most of these cigarettes come from India and South Korea.
These cigarettes are easily identifiable since the packs do not include the mandatory health warnings established by the Ministry of Health (MINSA), and instead have those from other countries (Caribbean, Nicaragua – where they do not have or have very little distribution) that serve facade for shipping and distribution from the Colon Free Zone, in the province of Colon.
Incidence of smuggled cigarettes
The study also shows that 96.5% of the cigarettes consumed in the city of David, Chiriquí province, are contraband, followed by the district of Las Cumbres in North Panama, where contraband cigarettes represent 91, 5% of the market.
While, in Tocumen, contraband cigarettes represent 88% of the market, 87.7% and 84.6% of the cigarettes consumed in Panama City and San Miguelito, respectively, are contraband.
The Jaisalmer, Timeless Time and Pine brands account for 92% of unpaid consumption. The first is manufactured by Godfrey Phillips (India), and the other two by Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation – KT&G (South Korea), and according to international trade statistics, they come from Asia to the Colon Free Zone.
The seizure of illicit cigarettes due to the articulated effort of the authorities, headed by the Director General of Customs to confront the problem, is another proof of the growing incidence of smuggling.
In 2016, the Nielsen study showed that 60.8% of cigarettes consumed on the streets of Panama were illegal, in 2018 the incidence rose to 73.4% and in 2019 the study showed that 79.9% of the cigarette market in Panama did not pay taxes.
