BERLIN, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Smokers in Germany increasingly prefer roll-your-own cigarettes while commercially manufactured cigarettes are becoming less attractive to them, according to a study released by the market research institute Nielsen on Monday.

In 2018, Germans bought around 67 billion cigarettes, about 2.5 percent less than the year before, while the sales of loose tobacco, such as for roll-your-own cigarettes, increased by 1.1 percent to about 22.9 million kilograms, according to the Nielsen study seen by Xinhua.

Meanwhile, smokers in Germany spent 19.4 billion euros (21.7 billion U.S. dollars) on commercially rolled cigarettes in 2018, 100 million euros more than in 2017.

"As in previous years, the fact that the cigarette market was able to report an increase in sales despite lower sales figures is due to price increases," emphasized Birgit Walker, tobacco expert at Nielsen.

Expenditure on loose tobacco increased by 1.4 percent to around 3.29 billion euros in the country. Large containers of loose tobacco are especially popular because here the price-performance ratio becomes "the focus of consumer attention," Walker said.

According to the study, so-called next-generation products -- such as e-cigarettes and tobacco heaters, which heat up tobacco instead of burning it -- are also becoming increasingly popular. Sales of such products tripled to around 139.7 million euros in 2018, according to the study.

"Sales of next-generation products are still low compared to traditional tobacco products," Walker said. But the increase in sales signals consumer interest in alternatives to the classic cigarette as health, lifestyle and environmental aspects appear to play an increasing role.