Illicit Consumption has risen for three consecutive years in South Korea, hitting an estimated 1.6 billion cigarettes in 2017. This represented a 33.0% increase in comparison with 2016. In 2014, the first year that South Korea was included in the Asia Illicit Tobacco Indicator Report, Illicit Consumption was estimated at just 113 million cigarettes.​

However, in terms of Incidence, Illicit Consumption remains low at just 2.2% of Total Consumption. This is much lower than other North Asian markets included in this research.​

The total Tax Loss (including GST) associated with Illicit Consumption was estimated at KRW 259.0 billion in 2017, with tobacco tax losses representing around 2.0% of total potential tobacco tax revenues.​