India

• There are almost 267 million tobacco users in India.
• Among adults (age 15+), 28.6% of the population currently uses tobacco products (men 42.4%; women 14.2%).
  • 21.4% of adults use smokeless tobacco (men 29.6%; women 12.8%)
  • 10.7% of adults smoke (men 19.0%; women 2.0%)
  • The majority of adult smokers smoke bidis (7.7% of adults overall)
• Among youth (ages 13–15):
  • 8.5% currently use some form of tobacco (boys 9.6%; girls 7.4%); and
  • 4.1% smoke tobacco and 4.1% use smokeless tobacco.

• 30.2% of adults are exposed to secondhand smoke in indoor workplaces, 7.4% are exposed in restaurants, and 13.3% are exposed in public transportation.
• 21% of youth (ages 13–15) are exposed to secondhand smoke in enclosed public places, and 11% are exposed at home.

• Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke kill about 1.2 million Indians each year.
• India accounts for 70% of the global burden of smokeless tobacco.
  • Smokeless tobacco use kills over 230,000 Indians each year.
  • Nearly 90% of oral cancers in India are attributable to smokeless tobacco use.
• Bidi and cigarette smokers die 6 to 10 years earlier than their non-smoking counterparts.
• 27% of all cancers in India are attributable to tobacco use.

Tobacco exacts a high cost on society.

• From 2017–2018, economic cost of tobacco-attributable disease and death in India INR 1773.4 billion (USD$ 27.5 billion).
  • Direct health care costs were 22% of the total cost (INR 387.1 billion or US$6 billion) and indirect costs (from lost productivity due to illness and death) were 78% (INR 1386.3 billion or US$21.5 billion).
  • The costs of premature death alone were 75% of the total economic costs (INR 132.4 billion or US$20.5 billion).
• The total costs of tobacco equate to 1.04% of India's GDP, and direct medical costs equate to 5.3% of total health expenditure.

ITC Ltd—part-owned by British American Tobacco— dominates the cigarette market in India with 79% of the total sales by volume. Godfrey Phillips India follows with 11% of the market, and VST Industries accounts for 7.7%. Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco hold 3.5% and 2%, respectively. In 2017, nearly 81.3 billion cigarettes were sold in India. 

Bidi rolling in India is a cottage-based industry employing mainly women and children. Bidis outsell cigarettes by a ratio of eight to one (8:1) in India.

India ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on February 5, 2004. The treaty went into effect on February 27, 2005.

For a summary of measures on smoke-free places, advertising and promotion, packaging and labeling, and taxation and price, download the India Tobacco Control Policy Status fact sheet. For more information visit the Tobacco Control Laws website.