The majority of the local population was occupied for an important period of time in the tobacco industry, from the last decades of 19th till the end of the 20th century.

Big tobacco companies were founded in the city, including the famous Papastratos, alongside Panagopoulos and Papapetrou.

The town, built near the banks of river Achelous (the natural border between Aetolia and Acarnania), was claimed by both states during ancient times.

Vrachori participated in the Greek Revolution and was temporarily liberated, by an army group led by Alexakis Vlachopoulos, on 11 June 1821.

In August 1822, while Reşid Mehmed Pasha's (Kütahi) troops were marching towards Vrachori, its citizens decided to burn and evacuate their city, following the strategy of scorched earth.

The city was finally included in the borders of the newborn Greek state permanently in 1832 with the Treaty of Constantinople (9 July 1832) and was renamed after its ancient name, Agrinion.In the years following the liberation, Agrinio went through an important growth and development, especially at the end of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th.

This growth was boosted by the building of two major hydroelectric dam installations at Kremasta and Kastraki, on the north of the city.

[7] The municipal unit (former municipality) of Agrinio consists of the following communities: The city of Agrinio consists of the main city and the outlying villages Agios Ioannis Riganas, Akropotamos, Bouzi, Giannouzi, Diamanteika, Eleftheria, Lefka, Liagkaiika, Pyrgi, Schinos and Strongylaiika.