By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- U.S. handmade cigar imports rose 4.6% year-over-year in the first three quarters of 2025, reaching 318.6 million cigars.
- Nicaragua remained the leading origin, while Honduras posted the fastest growth among top suppliers.
- Imports rose 29% in March from a year earlier, following “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, trade coverage said.
Handmade cigar imports into the United States increased in the first three quarters of 2025, with shipments totaling 318.6 million cigars, up 4.6% from the same period in 2024, according to figures published by the Cigar Association of America (CAA).
Nicaragua remained the largest supplier by a wide margin, with 190.4 million cigars imported in the first nine months of the year, up 2.1% year over year. The Dominican Republic followed with 69.9 million cigars, up 3.8%, while Honduras recorded the fastest growth among the top producers, with shipments up 14.8% to 55.5 million cigars.
Together, the three countries accounted for more than 99% of total handmade cigar imports, according to the data.
The largest monthly increase during the period occurred in March, when handmade cigar imports rose 29% from March 2024. Trade coverage attributed that surge to the announcement of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, which were described as affecting all cigar-producing countries.
The new figures follow a 2024 import total of roughly 430 million premium handmade cigars, an increase of about 0.9% over 2023, according to CAA data.
If the current pace holds, 2025 would mark the fifth consecutive year in which U.S. imports of handmade cigars exceed 400 million, according to trade reporting based on CAA statistics.
