Handmade Cigar Industry Posts Strong Results For First Half Of 2025
Despite tariffs and a longstanding expectation that the cigar market will slow down, shipments of premium, handmade cigars to the U.S. market rose in the first half of 2025, according to data from the Cigar Association of America. Imports were up 4.6 percent over the first half of 2024, with a little more than 200 million premium, handmade cigars shipped to the United States through the end of June.
Each of the three largest cigar-producing countries reported gains:
Nicaraguan shipments were up 2.8 percent to 123.5 million cigars.
The Dominican Republic shipped 41.1 million cigars, up 4 percent.
Honduras, the No. 3 exporter, wasn’t far behind, with 34.1 million, up 12.1 percent over the first half of last year.
Nicaragua accounted for 61.8 percent of first-half shipments, the Dominican Republic represented 20.1 percent and Honduras had 17 percent. Collectively, those three countries account for 98.9 percent of premium, handmade cigar imports into the United States. Costa Rica, the Philippines and Mexico are marginal producers accounting for the remaining 1.1 percent of shipments.
