Philip Morris Intl. Sales By Region — HTU only

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This article presents the shipment volumes of Philip Morris International (PMI)’s heated tobacco units (HTU) in key regions.

PMI categorizes its markets into four major regions, namely:

• Europe,
• SSEA & CIS & MEA,
• EA & AU & PMI GTR,
• and Americas.

Let’s check it out!

For other key statistics of Philip Morris International, you may find more resources on this page: PMI key stats.

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Definitions

To help readers understand the content better, the following terms and glossaries have been provided.

HTU Sales Volumes: Philip Morris International’s HTU shipment volumes are measured based on the in-market sales (IMS) volumes.

Heated Tobacco Units (HTU): HTU is the term PMI uses to refer to heated tobacco consumables, which include BLENDS, DELIA, HEETS, HEETS Creations, HEETS Dimensions (defined collectively as “HEETS”), Marlboro HeatSticks, SENTIA, TEREA, TEREA CRAFTED, and TEREA Dimensions, as well as the KT&G licensed brands, Fiit and Miix (outside of South Korea). HTU’s also include zero tobacco heat-not-burn consumables (LEVIA).

In-Market Sales (IMS): In-market sales (“IMS”) is defined as sales to the trade channels, which serve the end legal age nicotine users.

Depending on the market and distribution model, IMS may represent an estimate. Consequently, past reported periods may be updated to ensure comparability and to incorporate the most current information.

In other words, in-market sales (IMS) represents the number of units sold to consumers rather than shipments from manufacturers or distributors.

IMS is often used to gauge real consumer demand and market penetration, making it a valuable metric for assessing product performance.

Europe Region: Europe Region is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and covers all the European Union countries, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and also Ukraine, Moldova and Southeast Europe.

SSEA, CIS & MEA: South and Southeast Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States, Middle East and Africa Region (“SSEA, CIS & MEA”) is headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

It covers South and Southeast Asia, the African continent, the Middle East, Turkey, as well as Israel, Central Asia, Caucasus and Russia.

EA, AU & PMI GTR: East Asia, Australia, and PMI Global Travel Retail (“EA, AU & PMI GTR”) is headquartered in Hong Kong, and includes the consolidation of PMI’s global travel retail business with East Asia & Australia.

Americas: Americas Region is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and covers the United States, Canada and Latin America.

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Insight & Summary of PMI’s Shipment Volumes of HTU

PMI’s shipment volume mix has transformed over the past decade: cigarette shipments have declined by roughly a quarter since FY2016, while heated tobacco unit (HTU) shipments have grown more than twenty-fold, lifting HTU’s share of total volume from under 1% to just over one-fifth. Total shipment volume itself bottomed in FY2020 and has since recovered, though it remains below its FY2016 level — the recovery is being carried almost entirely by HTU.

• Total volume bottomed in FY2020 and HTU is now doing the heavy lifting Total Cigarette and HTU Shipment Volume fell from 820,340 million units in FY2016 to a trough of 704,629 million in FY2020, then recovered to 762,500 million by FY2025 — still roughly 7% below the FY2016 starting point. Every year of that post-2020 recovery has been driven by HTU growth outpacing continued cigarette declines: cigarette shipments fell in eight of the nine years since FY2016 (the lone exception being a modest +0.6% in FY2024), while HTU has posted double-digit or higher growth in every year of the series.

• HTU growth is decelerating, but off a much larger base HTU shipment growth has slowed sharply from its early hyper-growth phase — 389.9% in FY2017, when the base was still tiny, down to 11.0% by FY2025 as the base has grown roughly twentyfold. This deceleration is a natural function of scale rather than a demand slowdown: HTU’s 3-year average growth (12.4%) still comfortably outpaces cigarette’s 3-year average decline (-0.8%), and HTU now represents an 18.6% average share of total volume, up from under 1% at the start of the series.

• The regional footprint has diversified from a single-market concentration Under PMI’s legacy regional grouping (FY2016–FY2022), HTU sales were overwhelmingly concentrated in East Asia & Australia — 95.6% of volume in FY2016, still 90.3% in FY2017. From there, the European Union and Eastern Europe scaled rapidly, and by FY2022 the European Union (36.2%) had essentially caught up to East Asia & Australia (36.1%) for the largest legacy-region share, with Middle East & Africa, South & Southeast Asia, and Americas remaining minor contributors throughout.

• Under the current regional structure, Europe and EA/AU/PMI GTR are now co-leading Since PMI’s new regional grouping took effect in FY2022, EA, AU & PMI GTR has overtaken Europe as the largest HTU region — 40.5% average share (FY2023–FY2025) versus Europe’s 38.6% — a reversal from FY2022, when Europe (41.6%) led EA/AU/PMI GTR (37.2%). SSEA, CIS & MEA holds a steady ~20% share, while Americas remains negligible at roughly 0.5% of volume despite posting the fastest regional growth of FY2025 (+16.6%, the highest of any region that year) off its still-small base.

• Structural Takeaway: Structurally, PMI’s total shipment volume is no longer shrinking the way it did through FY2020, and that stabilization is entirely a function of HTU’s growing weight offsetting a slow, persistent cigarette decline. The foreseeable trend is continued HTU deceleration as its base matures — growth rates should keep compressing toward the low double digits or below over time — while cigarette volume likely continues its gradual single-digit annual decline. The clearest changing trend to watch is regional: leadership within HTU has already rotated once (Europe ceding the top spot to EA/AU/PMI GTR from FY2023), and the Americas — still under 1% of HTU volume but growing fastest — is the one region where a genuine change in scale, however early-stage, could alter the regional growth mix further.

The table below combines all key Philip Morris Intl.’s sales metrics into a single view for the latest three fiscal years.

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Cigarette and HTU Sales Overview

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Cigarette and HTU Sales Mix

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Cigarette and HTU Sales Growth

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HTU Sales By Region (New Grouping)

The definition of how PMI measures its HTU shipment volumes is available here: HTU sales volumes.

You may find more information about PMI’s regions here: Europe, SSEA, CIS & MEA, EA, AU & PMI GTR, and Americas.

PMI reorganized its regions from the previous six to four starting in fiscal year 2023. Prior year data was a recast. Legacy regions are presented here: legacy regions.

Philip Morris International (PMI) distributes its HTU products primarily in Europe and the EA, AU & PMI GTR regions. The Americas region makes up only a very small portion of PMI’s HTU global volume.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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HTU Sales Mix By Region (New Grouping)

The definition of how PMI measures its HTU shipment volumes is available here: HTU sales volumes.

You may find more information about PMI’s regions here: Europe, SSEA, CIS & MEA, EA, AU & PMI GTR, and Americas.

PMI reorganized its regions from the previous six to four starting in fiscal year 2023. Prior year data was a recast. Legacy regions are presented here: legacy regions.

The HTU shipment volumes from Europe and the EA, AU & PMI GTR regions make up nearly 80% of PMI’s worldwide HTU sales.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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HTU Sales Growth By Region (New Grouping)

The definition of how PMI measures its HTU shipment volumes is available here: HTU sales volumes.

You may find more information about PMI’s regions here: Europe, SSEA, CIS & MEA, EA, AU & PMI GTR, and Americas.

PMI reorganized its regions from the previous six to four starting in fiscal year 2023. Prior year data was a recast. Legacy regions are presented here: legacy regions.

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HTU Sales By Region (Legacy Grouping)

The definition of how PMI measures its HTU shipment volumes is available here: HTU sales volumes.

The regions presented in this section are considered legacy and are no longer classified as reportable segments starting in fiscal year 2023. New reportable regions are presented here: new regions.

Philip Morris International (PMI)’s HTU sales in most legacy regions have been on the rise, particularly in European Union, Eastern Europe, and the East Asia & Australia region.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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HTU Sales Mix By Region (Legacy Grouping)

The definition of how PMI measures its HTU shipment volumes is available here: HTU sales volumes.

The regions presented in this section are considered legacy and are no longer classified as reportable segments starting in fiscal year 2023. New reportable regions are presented here: new regions.

Philip Morris International’s combined heated tobacco unit (HTU) sales from the European Union, Eastern Europe, and the East Asia & Australia region represented over 90% of its total global HTU volumes.

The following table shows a detailed breakdown:

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References and Credits

1. All financial figures presented were obtained and referenced from PMI’s quarterly and annual reports published on the company’s investor relations page: PMI’s Reports And Filings.

2. Pexekls Images.

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Disclosure

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist us in writing some of the text in this article. However, the data is directly obtained from original sources (usually the quarterly and annual reports) and meticulously cross-checked by our editors multiple times to ensure its accuracy and reliability.

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