The Abu Dhabi trade in raw tobacco declined by 20 per cent during the first nine months of the year, as per figures released recently by the Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi on the Emirate's non-oil trade movement.

The decline was recorded in the run-up to the application of the excise tax on tobacco and energy and carbonated drinks by 100 per cent and 50 per cent respectively, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency.

The statistics showed that the total value of tobacco trade decreased to Dh345.7 million ($94 million) during the period from January through the end of September 2017 from Dh413 million during the corresponding period 2016.

Tobacco re-exports likewise edged down to Dh345 million during the monitored period from Dh404 million during the same period in 2016.

The emirate's tobacco imports went down in value to Dh3 million from January through September 2017 against Dh8.5 million during the same period in 2016, while the exports remained very low.