In the first half of 2025, the share of illicit cigarette trafficking in Russia amounted to 9.5%, according to data from another All-Russian field study conducted by the National Scientific Competence Center for Combating Illicit Trafficking in Industrial Products (ANO "NSCC"). This is 12% lower than in 2024 (10.8%) and is the lowest level in the last six years – since the launch of the state digital marking system "Honest Mark" in the industry in 2019. In 2019, illegal trafficking accounted for 15.6%, but by mid-2025 it had decreased by almost 40%.
The fiscal effect of the legalization of the tobacco market from 2019 to 2024 exceeded 601.5 billion rubles, which became a significant contribution to budget revenues at all levels.
The study covered 1,073 settlements in all regions of the Russian Federation.
- The minimum figures were recorded in the regions of the Far East and Siberia – 1% or less. There is practically no illegal trafficking in the Magadan Region, Primorsky Krai, and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
- The largest share of illegal products was registered in the Kaluga Region (31.3%), the Chechen Republic (27.8%), the Smolensk Region (25.1%) and the Orenburg Region (21.2%).
Research confirms that the majority of illegal products (54.2%) still enter Russia from the EAEU countries.
The joint efforts of federal executive authorities, law enforcement agencies and the business community, as well as the active use of digital control tools such as the digital labeling system, make it possible to predict a further reduction in the share of the illegal market.
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