Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In the first quarter of this year, analysts from CRPT TURON (Operator of the national digital labeling system Asl Belgisi) studied the sales volume of labeled tobacco products in various regions of Uzbekistan and found out where residents smoke the most.

According to the results of the study, it was found that residents of ] Tashkent region are leaders in average monthly cigarette consumption. From January to March 2024, there were 32.1 thousand conventional packs of cigarettes per 10 thousand adult residents of the region.

Also in the top 5 regions for consumption were Bukhara region (27.1 thousand packs), Tashkent city (25.9 thousand packs), Samarkand region (5.9 thousand packs) and Navoi region (953 packs).

A high level of sales was also recorded in Jizzakh region (558 packs), Karakalpakstan (403 packs), Kashkadarya region (400 packs), Surkhandarya region (370 packs) and Syrdarya region (315 packs).

In the first three months of 2024, 77.1 million standard packs of filter cigarettes were sold in Uzbekistan, which is 10 times more than in the same period last year.

A representative of the Tax Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan noted that the increase in sales is primarily due to the whitening of the market, and not to an increase in the number of smokers. The introduction of labeling of tobacco products contributed to an increase in the volume of production and import of tobacco, and also increased tax revenues.

The most popular cigarettes among the population in the first quarter of 2024 were Pall Mall Vegas Nights. The following places were taken by cigarettes with berry flavor, super-thin cigarettes, cigarettes with menthol flavor and others.

The introduction of mandatory labeling of cigarettes began on 1 January 2021, and from 1 October 2022, labeling was extended to all types of tobacco products due to the high level of counterfeit products on the market.