KT&G announced on Feb. 14 that its ultra-slim cigarette brand ESSE has surpassed 900 billion cigarettes in cumulative sales.
Launched in November 1996, ESSE sold 496.5 billion cigarettes domestically and 405.1 billion cigarettes overseas by last year, totaling 901.6 billion cigarettes sold domestically and overseas.
Last year, ESSE's annual sales volume was 21.9 billion cigarettes domestically and 28.9 billion cigarettes overseas, with overseas sales exceeding domestic sales since 2015.
ESSE attracted market attention with its slim design and low-tar product, which was differentiated from the regular-sized, high-tar cigarettes that dominated the cigarette market when it was launched in Korea.
Since then, ESSE has held the top spot in domestic cigarette sales for 20 years since 2004, thanks to the application of innovative technologies such as odor reduction and steady product expansion that reflected consumers' diverse tastes.
ESSE, which began exporting to the Middle East and Russia in 2001, is sold in more than 90 countries around the world through continuous market expansion, and has become the world's best-selling ultra-slim product, accounting for about one-third of global ultra-slim cigarette sales.
"Thanks to the growth of ESSE, which has proven its competitiveness in the global market, KT&G's annual sales in the overseas tobacco business reached a record high of KRW 1,139.4 billion last year,"said an official from KT&G.
