Premium Cigar Imports Fall: Down 5 Percent Through April
The U.S. market for premium, handmade cigars continues to cool. The import numbers for 2026 up to and including April are in and they show a loss of 5 percent (119.4 million cigars) when compared to the same period of 2025.
This follows the 2026 first quarter report that showed a decrease of 3 percent over Q1 of the previous year. These numbers come via the Cigar Association of America (CAA).
Lead producer Nicaragua exported 74.6 million handmade cigars to the United States for the first four months of the year, down 10 percent over 2025 numbers. The surprise development here was Honduras. It not only posted a 14 percent gain from last year, but it ranked No. 2 in overall volume with 22.9 million cigars, bumping the Dominican Republic down to the No. 3 spot.
The Dominican Republic showed a decrease of 4 percent at 20.2 million cigars, according to the CAA, but it’s important to note that the Dominican figures were an estimate, unlike the import numbers from other countries.
Imports differ from sales—just because a cigar is imported into the United States doesn’t mean it will sell. However, since more than 99 percent of handmade, premium cigars are made outside the United States, tracking the imports is the most accurate way to determine how the cigar market is performing.
Last year, the United States imported just under 430 million premium, handmade cigars, essentially flat from 2024.
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