Foreign-brand cigarettes accounted for a record-high market share of 25 percent in the first half of fiscal 2000, according to an industry association.

Sales of foreign brands have been increasing in Japan since the 1985 market deregulation and accounted for one in every four cigarettes sold in Japan between last April and September, the Japan Tobacco Association reported.

Of the first half's overall sales of 166.2 billion cigarettes, 41.5 billion, or 25 percent, were foreign brands. Overall sales dropped 2.1 percent from a year earlier, underscoring a decline in the number of smokers.

The previous high was 24.9 percent registered in fiscal 1999. The top-selling foreign brand is Lark Mild KS Box, followed by Kent One Box, it said.

In the overall market, the top-selling brand was the Mild Seven Super Light with 9.6 percent of all sales, followed by Mild Seven Light with 9.4 percent and Mild Seven with 8.6 percent.

Of the top 10 brands, nine had a designation of either "Mild" or "Light," the exception being Seven Stars in the fourth slot, perhaps indicating smokers' preference for light versions out of concerns about health, the association said.