Imperial Tobacco's Players brand climbed to the top of the rankings on the back of a stellar year of growth. Sales shot up 26.4%, taking it past £1.4bn. As one of the cheapest packs on the market it benefited from the long-standing trend towards value brands. Imperial Tobacco market manager UK Cameron Miller explains that what it terms "sub-economy brands" have increased their market share from 50% to 55% in the previous 12 months.

Just four of the top 10 brands were in growth this year, and like Players, the other three - B&H Blue, Rothmans and Carlton - can all be classed as value offerings.

JTI Sterling, last year's number one, suffered a 7.4% fall in sales to £1.34bn as it lost out to cheaper brands. 

Imperial Tobacco and JTI each accounted for four of the top 10, with Philip Morris International's Marlboro and BAT's Rothmans the only other contenders.

In terms of overall market share, Imperial and JTI tend to alternate in terms of market leadership every few months.

Marlboro remains by far the biggest premium cigarette brand, with sales of £685.9m. This was despite an 8% fall in the past year. The next bestselling premium line was JTI's Silk Cut in 13th spot, with sales of £405.8m. 

There are nine survivors from last year's top 1o. The only casualty was Imperial's Richmond brand, which fell from seventh to 12th.