I haven’t taken a look at the tobacco industry as a whole in a long time—I decided to see how things are going with the biggest players. Turns out, it really is a huge business, where a few giants control almost the entire market.

For example, tobacco companies like Philip Morris International have a market capitalization of about $142 billion, and their net profit in 2021 was around $9 billion. British American Tobacco is a bit more modest—$91 billion in market cap and $8.7 billion in profit. Interestingly, PMI is actively moving into alternative products like IQOS; they clearly see which way the wind is blowing.

If we’re talking about tobacco companies overall, the top also includes Altria ($88 billion market cap, $8.3 billion profit), Japan Tobacco ($50 billion and $4.5 billion, respectively), and ITC from India (market cap of $55 billion). What’s curious is that ITC isn’t just tobacco—they’re also involved in the food and hospitality businesses.

China National Tobacco is a whole different story. It’s a state-owned company; there’s no publicly available data on market capitalization, but he profit is about $30 billion per year. They produce more than 40% of all cigarettes on the planet, if the figures are to be believed.

Less well-known tobacco companies such as Swedish Match (with a $12 billion market cap) have focused on smoke-free products, while KT&G has $10 billion. Even Egypt’s Eastern Company earned $100 million in net profit on a $1.5 billion market cap.

All of this is based on 2021 data, of course. Since then, a lot may have changed, but the overall picture of the industry remains roughly the same—dominance by a few major players, a gradual shift toward alternative products, and regulatory pressure. An interesting dynamic to watch.