BERLIN, May 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 48.4 billion cigarettes worth 651 million euros (752 million U.S. dollars) were imported by German companies in 2017, the Federal Statistical Office of the country reported on Tuesday, in the lead-up to the World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

The import volume dropped slightly by 1.9 percent from the previous year. In value terms, imports of cigarettes rose by 16.7 percent year on year, the statistical office said, adding the most important supplier countries were Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic.

In 2017, Germany exported 123 billion cigarettes worth 2.7 billion euros, according to the statistical office.