Tobacco by the Numbers
How much leaf the world grows and where, what America’s crop is worth, and how many cigars and how much pipe tobacco reach American shelves. Updated as new official figures are released.
The world’s leaf
The fifteen largest growers, 2024 (tonnes)
FAOSTAT figures as published by atlasbig.com.[1]
Small in tonnes, great in reputation
The countries best known for cigar leaf and pipe tobacco grow a small fraction of the world’s tonnage. The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Cameroon and Honduras together grew about 57,000 tonnes in 2024, less than 3 percent of China’s crop.[1]
| Country | Tonnes | World rank |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | 33,900 | 18 |
| Spain | 19,410 | 28 |
| Poland | 19,200 | 30 |
| Dominican Republic | 14,651 | 32 |
| Cuba | 12,482 | 33 |
| Greece | 10,210 | 39 |
| Ecuador | 9,553 | 40 |
| Nicaragua* | 7,786 | 45 |
| Cameroon | 6,437 | 48 |
| Honduras | 5,856 | 51 |
| Bulgaria | 3,380 | 57 |
*Nicaragua’s figure is for 2023; no 2024 figure was published.[1]
America’s leaf
By class, 2025, and the 2026 forecast (pounds)
| Class | Acres 2025 | Pounds per acre 2025 | Crop 2025 | Forecast 2026 (Oct. 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flue-cured | 134,400 | 2,060 | 276.9 million | 288.1 million |
| Burley | 27,700 | 1,975 | 54.7 million | 62.5 million |
| Fire-cured | 6,000 | 2,983 | 17.9 million | 22.0 million |
| Dark air-cured | 3,200 | 2,850 | 9.1 million | 10.8 million |
| All tobacco | 171,300 | 2,093 | 358.6 million | 383.4 million |
USDA no longer publishes estimates for the cigar leaf classes.[2]
By state, 2026 forecast (million pounds)
USDA NASS forecast as of October 1, 2026.[2]
What the crop was worth
| Year | Price per pound | Value of production |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $2.304 | $987.8 million |
| 2024 | $2.400 | $773.3 million |
| 2025 (preliminary) | $2.319 | $831.5 million |
USDA NASS Crop Values.[4] In 2024 the crop was 325.2 million pounds on 167,450 acres, as first estimated.[3]
Cigars and pipe tobacco in the United States
Premium cigars imported, by country (millions of cigars)
| From | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Nicaragua | 253.1 | 258.4 |
| Dominican Republic | 106.0 | 93.7 |
| Honduras | 67.4 | 74.5 |
| All handmade premium imports | 430.0 | 429.8 |
Cigar Association of America figures as reported by the trade press;[6][5] we could not check them against the government’s own import data.
American-made pipe tobacco (pounds)
Taxable removals of U.S.-made pipe tobacco, including Puerto Rico. Manufactured in 2025: 19,309,338 pounds.[7]
American-made cigars (taxable removals)
| Year | Cigars taxed at the percentage rate (includes small cigars) | Large cigars priced above the tax cap |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3,937,220,194 | 4,206,130 |
| 2023 | 3,065,654,646 | 2,687,356 |
| 2024 | 2,422,756,124 | 2,756,836 |
| 2025 | 2,064,074,515 | 3,413,575 |
U.S.-made cigars only, including Puerto Rico; imported cigars are not counted here.[7]
More numbers
Sources
- Tobacco Production by Country 2026, atlasbig.com (FAOSTAT 2024 data; FAOSTAT itself could not be reached)
- USDA NASS, Crop Production (October 9, 2026)
- USDA NASS, Crop Production (September 2025)
- USDA NASS, Crop Values 2025 Summary (February 2026)
- Cigar Aficionado, Premium Cigar Imports Flat for 2025 (reporting Cigar Association of America figures)
- Cigar Inspector, U.S. Cigar Imports Reach 430 Million in 2024 (reporting Cigar Association of America figures)
- TTB, Tobacco Yearly Data (CSV, updated August 25, 2026)
- Habanos S.A., record sales of US$827 million in 2024 (press release, February 24, 2025)
- TTB, Tax Collections, Cumulative Summary, Fiscal Year 2025 (Final), January 21, 2026
Figures are as published by each source on the date given and may be revised. Where we could not reach the original government table, the note says so. See also The Great Tobacco Appellations and Tobacco Terroir Monthly. For adults 21 and older. Page version 1.0, October 2026.