Tobacco consumption hits record low in 1st half

The country's tobacco consumption hit a record low in the first six months of this year amid the so-called "well-being boom," industry sources said Monday.

KT&G Corporation rolled out a total of 26.6 billion cigarettes in the January-June period, down 1.5 percent from 27 billion cigarettes tallied in the same period of last year, the sources said.

Tobacco consumption reached 89.3 billion cigarettes last year, down 0.8 percent from 90 billion cigarettes in 2011. The comparable figure stood at 90.5 billion in 2010, 94.8 billion in 2009 and 94.9 billion in 2008.

The sources attributed the decrease to a fall in the number of people who quitted smoking for their health.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com