Here's How Much People Spend On Booze And Cigarettes Around The World

The big business news of the day seems to be CVS Caremark's announced planned ban on tobacco products.

A pack of cigarettes can be quite expensive.

However, it turns out that tobacco represents a relatively small expenditure for the American consumer.

CVS management expects to lose just around $2 billion of its over $120 billion in annual sales.

The chart below comes to us from Goldman Sachs. It shows what percent of disposable income consumers spend on alcohol and tobacco around the world.

In the U.S., it's less than 2%. And as most of us know, CVS and other large pharmacies sell a lot more than just drugs, beer, and tobacco.