Visual Capitalist has published a chart showing current tobacco consumption in selected countries around the world based on WHO estimates for 2022.
Tobacco consumption rates have been declining worldwide for decades. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated one in five people in the world today use tobacco products.
The chart examines the entire dataset of the world’s countries on tobacco consumption up to 2022. The estimates relate to people aged 15 and over and include both smoked and smokeless tobacco (including vaping).
In almost all countries, tobacco use is higher among men than women. Globally, 36 per cent of men are tobacco users compared to only 8 per cent of women, says Visual Capitalist.
From a regional perspective, many countries in Asia have higher rates of tobacco use. In particular, Indonesia (overall prevalence 38.5 per cent) and Myanmar (43.9 per cent) have some of the highest rates of tobacco use in the world, with 73.6 per cent of Indonesian men estimated to smoke or use tobacco. In many Asian countries, the difference between male and female smokers is bigger than in the rest of the world. In China, for example, an estimated 47.3 per cent of men use tobacco, but only 2.0 per cent of women.
The Americas and especially in Africa, the prevalence of tobacco consumption is lower. Nigeria had the lowest tobacco consumption rate in the world at 2.9 per cent in 2022.
In Europe, Bulgaria (34 per cent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (35.1 per cent) and Serbia (36.6 per cent) have the highest smoking rates.