A total of 18 billion cigarettes were produced in Iran during the first four months of the current fiscal year (started March 21), registering a more than 42% growth compared with the corresponding period of last year, ISNA reported, citing the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade's data.
The ban on imports is still in effect, while exports stood at 150 million cigarettes during the same period.
The ministry estimates that 3.7 billion cigarettes were smuggled into the country during the four months, indicating a 60.3% decline compared with last year’s similar period.
Consumption during the four-month period of both last and current Iranian years has been estimated at 21.7 billion.
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