WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The Federal Trade Commission announced Oct. 25 that it released a report detailing a decline in the number of cigarettes sold by major wholesalers and retailers from 253.8 billion in 2014 to 244.2 billion in 2015.
Over that same time period, the FTC noted, the amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion increased from $8.03 billion to $8.24 billion. The FTC attributed that to an increase price discounts paid to cigarette wholesalers so that consumer prices could be reduced.
Smokeless tobacco sales increased slightly between 2014 and 2015, from 127.8 million pounds to 129.4 million pounds. During that time revenue also rose slightly, from $3.42 billion to $3.68 billion. Spending on advertising and promotion increased from $600.8 million to $684.9 million. Price discounts again contributed to the increase in spending.
The FTC has periodically released the cigarette report since 1967 and the smokeless tobacco report since 1987. The FTC voted 2-0 to issue the reports. The staff contact for the report is Michael Ostheimer of the Bureau of Competition.