South Korea’s largest tobacco maker KT&G has been ringing up bigger sales in the U.S. and Africa, according to data released Wednesday.

In 2015, nearly 40 percent of KT&G’s exports were to these and other markets it has been expanding into, including Latin American and Asia-Pacific nations. The ratio reflects an increase from 2010 when KT&G exports to such markets had accounted for just 15.4 percent of its total overseas sales. 


In total, the company shipped out 46.5 billion cigarettes last year.

By region, 2.8 billion cigarettes were sold in the U.S. in 2015, nearly trebling from 1.1 billion recorded five years earlier. TIME was the best-selling brand in the U.S.

In Africa, KT&G sold 2.8 billion cigarettes in a 70-fold increase from 40 million, spurred by the robust sales of PINE, its export-purpose brand.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)