Soaring Consumption in Egypt: Does Vaping Have a Future?

On August 27, Hany Aman, CEO of Eastern Tobacco, Egypt's largest cigarette manufacturer, said that Egyptians consume about 100 billion cigarettes every year, accounting for about 18% of the country's population. This is equivalent to every person in Egypt's population of 100 million—men, women, and children—smoking 1,000 cigarettes per year, or 3 per day.

At the same time, demand is surging and prices are rising sharply. Since June, the price of domestically produced cigarettes in Egypt has increased from 24 Egyptian pounds to 60 Egyptian pounds. Eastern Tobacco, Egypt's domestic cigarette manufacturer, has an annual output of 70 billion cigarettes and holds about 75% of the Egyptian market. With demand at this level, does this mean there is also a market for e-cigarettes in Egypt?