PRODUCTION OUTLOOK
Types of tobacco leaf grown in 2019 (Source: ITGA): FC Virginia, Dark Air and Sun Cured Virginia
PEOPLE INVOLVED IN TOBACCO
Employment numbers of the tobacco leaf value chain in 2018 (Source: ITGA, TISA, Tobacco Reporter and COMESA): Growers: 318; Agricultural Farm Workers: 10 000; People who depend on tobacco: 35 000; Total number of direct employment: 9 677
AREA BY LEAF TYPE
Represents the percentage of area cultivated by tobacco leaf type in the country in 2019 (Source: ITGA)
FLUE-CURED VIRGINIA
DARK AIR
SUN CURED VIRGINIA
KEY INSIGHTS
Key statistics of the tobacco leaf production in the country
AREA
PRODUCTION
AREA/GROWER
EXPORT VALUE
PRODUCTION VALUE
YIELD
REVENUE/HA
TOBACCO IN SOUTH AFRICA
Brief contextualisation of the importance of Tobacco in South Africa
Gauteng
Tobacco growing in South Africa is not the major endeavor when tobacco is concerned. The country is an important tobacco manufacturer. In 2017, the country exported over US$ 200 million tobacco related products generating a relevant stream of income. Tobacco products sales in 2016 amounted to US$ 3.2 billion dollars in revenue, which contributed to the Government coffers with close to US$ 900 million. South Africa has been facing a difficult illicit trade problem within the country, with the black-market accounting for close to 22% of the total consumption of cigarettes. However, the country and manufacturers are taking measures to control the illicit trade, thus maximizing state revenue from tobacco products. The country’s tobacco leaf production is mainly used for its domestic tobacco manufacturing industry.
Sources: UN Comtrade, Tobacco and Nicotine Database, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and ITGA.
EXPORT PARTNERS
This section aims at identifying the most important commercial partners in terms of Value and Quantity (Source: Calculated from data from UN Comtrade)