The United States imported a record-setting 456.3 million premium cigars in 2021, according to the Cigar Association of America (CAA).
The CAA estimates that 364.4 million premium cigars were imported in 2020, showing a 25.2 percent increase in 2021.
December, however, showed a 23.7 percent drop in imports, marking the only month that did not exceed 2020 figures. The fourth quarter as a whole represented a 6.8 percent decrease compared to 2020.
According to Halfwheel, the CAA calculates its numbers based on the import numbers provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Customs Services and information from cigar companies. The trade group’s numbers are not exact because of reporting differences; it estimates how many “large cigars” were actually “premium cigars.” There are some machine-made cigars that meet the U.S. definition of a “large cigar,” though those cigars would not be considered premium cigars by most people.