Table 1

Proportion of individuals using illicit cigarettes by selected Brazilian state capital and survey methods, 2018–2019

City/ilicitFTF-householdVIGITELindiv‡‡§§¶¶
FTF-householdpriceindiv*†‡FTF-householdbrandindiv§¶**‡FTF-householdpricebrandindiv§¶††**‡
Rio de Janeiro
 % of individuals27.7 (22.6–34.0)29.1 (23.5–35.5)31.2 (25.4–37.6)8.2 (4.3–15.1)
São Paulo
 % of individuals32.1 (27.3–37.3)36.4 (30.8–42.3)37.5 (32.2–43.2)18.8 (10.9–30.5)
Campo Grande
 % of individualsn.avail.n.availn.avail26.4 (16.4–39.1)
Belo Horizonte
 % of individualsn.avail.n.availn.avail14.9 (8.6–24.6)
João Pessoa
 % of individuaisn.avail.n.availn.avail20.8 (9.9–38.2)
  • *Individuals who reported having bought at least one cigarette pack in their last purchase and who informed having paid less than minimum price established by law, that is, less than 5.0 Brazilian Reais per pack.

  • †We excluded smokers who did not provide information on self-reported price per pack (0.8% in Sao Paulo and 0.0% in Rio de Janeiro).

  • ‡P>0.150 in Pearson χ2 tests for comparison of two proportions with sampling weight across FTF-household methods for Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.

  • §91.7% and 81.7% of smokers interviewed in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, respectively, physically showed the pack of their last purchase at the moment of the interview and were included in the analysis.

  • ¶We used the official list of legal brands authorised by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency and the direct observation of the presence/type of Brazilian health warnings to establish a boundary between both legal and illegal markets.

  • **The overall number of packs collected/showed was, as follows: for the FTF-householdbrand, Rio de Janeiro (680), and São Paulo (598).

  • ††Legal brands authorised by the ANVISA with the presence of Brazilian health warnings, but sold below 4.7 Brazilian Reais were also coded as illegal.

  • ‡‡The overall number of smokers who provided information on the amount and price paid in their last purchase was, as follows: Rio de Janeiro (154), São Paulo (188), Campo Grande (119), Belo Horizonte (165) and João Pessoa (80).

  • §§We excluded smokers who did not provide information on self-reported price per pack (18.9% in Rio de Janeiro, 14.7% in São Paulo, 26.9% in Campo Grande, 6.4% in Belo Horizonte and 7.8% in João Pessoa).

  • ¶¶P<0.050 in Pearson χ2 tests for comparison of two proportions with sampling weight (VIGITEL vs any other survey method).

  • FTF, Face-to-Face Household; n.avail., not available.