Tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death, according to the World Health Organization. Increasingly, the burden of tobacco use is greatest in low- and middle-income countries that have been targeted by the tobacco industry with its deadly products and deceptive marketing practices. The result: A global tobacco epidemic of preventable death, disease and economic harm to countries and families.
Tobacco Consumption
- There are more than one billion smokers in the world.1
- Globally, 19% of adults are current smokers (men 33%; women 6%).1
- More than 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.1
- 22% of adults in high-income countries, 19.5% in middle-income countries, and 11% of adults in low-income countries are smokers.1
- Middle-income countries have the highest smoking rates among men (35%), while high-income countries have the highest rates among women (16%).1
- Globally, the number of youth aged 13-15 years who smoke is estimated to be around 24 million, and 13 million use smokeless tobacco products.2
- The numbers of cigarette smokers and other tobacco product users is increasing in many low- and middle-income countries due to population growth and tobacco industry marketing.
Tobacco Health Consequences
- 100 million people died from tobacco use in the 20th century. If current trends continue one billion people will die from tobacco use in the 21st century.3
- Tobacco use kills up to half of all lifetime users.4 On average, smokers lose 15 years of life.5
- Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year.1 Of these deaths, 1.2 million are caused by secondhand smoke exposure.2
- Tobacco-related illnesses account for 1 in 10 adult deaths worldwide. By 2030, 80% of those deaths will be in low- and middle-income countries.4
Tobacco Costs to Society
- Smoking is estimated to cause about 1.4 trillion USD in economic damage each year.6
- Costs associated with tobacco-related illnesses are extremely high. Total economic costs associated with smoking represent 1.8% of global GDP, and smoking-attributable health expenditure represents 5.7% of total health spending.6
- In the United States, annual smoking-related health care costs amount to 170 billion USD.7
- The total economic cost of smoking in international dollars at purchasing power parity was estimated to be $173 billion in Indonesia, $114 billion in India, and $48 billion in Brazil.8
- Tobacco-related illnesses and premature mortality impose high productivity costs to the economy because of sick workers and those who die prematurely during their working years. Lost economic opportunities in highly-populated low- and middle-income countries will be particularly severe as tobacco use is high and growing in those areas.5
- Global indirect costs of smoking are estimated to be about 1 trillion USD, nearly two thirds of which are due to premature mortality.6
- In Ukraine, the productivity loss due to premature smoking-related mortality is at least 3 billion USD annually.9
- Tobacco production damages the environment:
- Tobacco plants are especially vulnerable to many pests and diseases, prompting farmers to apply large quantities of chemicals and pesticides that harm human health and the environment.3
- Clearing of land for cultivation and large amounts of wood needed for curing tobacco cause massive deforestation at a rate of about 200,000 hectares per year.3
Download our fact sheet on The Global Tobacco Epidemic
1 WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2019: The MPOWER package. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019.
2 Tobacco Fact Sheet. World Health Organization; 26 July, 2019. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco.
3 Eriksen M et al. The Tobacco Atlas. Fifth Ed. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2015.
4 WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2011: The MPOWER package. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.
5 WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008: The MPOWER package. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2008.
6 U.S. NCI and WHO. The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control. NCI Tobacco Control Monograph 21. NIH Publication No. 16-CA-8029A. Bethesda: U.S. DHSS, NIH, NCI, and Geneva: WHO; 2016.
7 Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids. Toll of Tobacco in the United States of America. https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/factsheets/0072.pdf
8 Goodchild M et al. Global economic cost of smoking-attributable diseases. Tobacco Control. 2018;27:58-64
9 Ross H. Economic and public health impact of 2007-2010 tobacco tax increases in Ukraine. Tobacco Control. 2012 June;21:429-435.
10 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017. Seattle, WA: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington; 2020. Available at: http://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/.
Last updated June 18, 2020