Worldwide Smoking Rate

 

According to the «World Health Organization», approximately 1 billion smokers account for 7.5 billion of the world's population. Every year, tobacco users smoke 5.7 billion cigarettes and throw away about 1 million tons of cigarette butts, according to analysts of the American initiative group «The Tobacco Atlas»: tons of cigarette butts are harmful not only to the environment, but also to people, because they consist of cellulose acetate, a product that is practically not decomposed in natural conditions. Meanwhile, from an economic point of view, the annual profit of tobacco corporations is impressive - $700 billion, but the super-profits of tobacco producers are too expensive for humanity - over the past century, as many people died from the effects of smoking as during the two world wars - about 100 million. Today, the mortality caused by the consequences of smoking in the world is in the first place, according to WHO experts. Every six seconds on the planet from diseases caused by smoking, one person dies, according to WHO experts. In terms of the year, this sad figure is 7.5 million people. The main causes of death are lung cancer, acute cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, and others. Special attention is drawn to the link between tobacco and cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of death in the world. They account for 44 percent of all NCDs deaths, or 17.9 million annual deaths.

For 2020, due to the latest circumstances (coronavirus), the number of smokers has decreased and the number of male smokers is expected to fall by 2 million people, according to WHO. And by 2025, this figure will decrease by another 5 million people. We are talking about a" turning point " in the fight against a bad habit. The organization also stressed that the organization will continue to work with countries to support this trend. These ranks include the leaders in smoking cessation like Austria, Brazil, Britain, and France, where the number of heavy smokers decreased by about a million people between 2016 and 2017.

Meanwhile, a huge number of smokers in the following countries have built a new top 5 countries with high smoking statistics:

1) The island nation of Kiribati has the highest proportion of smokers in the world, with almost 66% of the male population and more than 34% of the female population. The population of Kiribati, located on an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, is only 103 thousand people. The authorities of the country practically do not control the tobacco industry, and duties on tobacco products are very low.

Until 2018, the first place was occupied by China in terms of the number of smokers

2) Montenegro has the highest percentage of smokers in Europe - 46%. This Balkan country is home to 633 thousand people, and on average, every adult smokes more than 4,120 cigarettes annually. And despite the fact that smoking in public places is officially prohibited here, people continue to smoke freely in office premises, restaurants, bars and even on public transport.

3) In Greece, more than half of the entire male population of the country and 35% of the female population regularly smokes. Despite the fact that in 2008, Greece introduced a ban on smoking in public places, many still smoke wherever they want. Greece also has a very high percentage of illegal sales of cigarette products: according to the international marketing company Euromonitor International, the Greek state treasury will lose up to 1 billion euros annually in unpaid duties by 2019.

4) In East Timor, the percentage of male smokers is one of the highest in the world - almost 80%. But only 6% of women smoke. Tobacco is an essential part of life in this poor country, as a pack of cigarettes costs less than a dollar. All of them have a warning about the dangers of tobacco, but for most of these warnings are useless, since half of the adult population of this country is illiterate.

5) In Russia, almost 60% of men over the age of 15 and 23% of women smoke. Smoking is prohibited in the workplace and on public transport, as is tobacco advertising on television and in transport, but the percentage of smokers continues to be high. In some stores, you can buy a pack of cigarettes for less than a dollar. The turnover of tobacco products in Russia is estimated at more than $ 22 billion.

The least smokers are in Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Eritrea and Panama. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 14% of the population in Africa smokes - this is lower than the average 22% worldwide. The majority are men-from 70% to 85%; the low percentage of women who smoke in Africa is usually due to their lack of economic independence, that is, free funds. Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria have joined the WHO framework agreement on tobacco control and have introduced strict regulations to protect their populations from the harmful effects of tobacco.

 

Zagfarova Dilyara