Established in 1987 by the World Health Organization, Anti-Tobacco Day takes place this Friday, May 31. An event aimed at raising public awareness of this scourge, responsible for the death of 8 million people each year. Currently, there are 1.25 billion smokers worldwide according to the WHO. In 80% of cases, these smokers reside in low- or middle-income countries.
Smoking: purchasing power, an argument in the fight against cigarettes
Based on data dating from 2020, a map produced by the WHO and the World Bank makes it possible to establish this classification on a global scale, among the population aged 15 and over, whether they smoke daily or occasionally. The region with the highest rate of smokers is South-East Asia (26.5%), followed by Europe (25.3%), which for its part holds the record for the number of female smokers, “more than twice the global average” according to the WHO.
France in 19th position in the world rankings
With almost half of the population smoking (48.5%), the island of Nauru, located in Oceania, tops the WHO ranking. Followed by Burma (44.1%), Kiribati (40.6%), Serbia – making it the European country most affected by smoking (39.8%) – and Papua New Guinea (39 .3%).
Smoking: which regions of France are where people smoke the most?
Located behind Greece (33.5%) and ahead of Lithuania (32%), France occupies 19th position in this world ranking, with a third of smokers in total (33.4%). According to a study carried out in 2022 by Public Health France focused on daily smokers aged 18 to 75, men are more affected than women (27.4% versus 21.7%).
Some 150 countries have reduced their tobacco consumption
According to the WHO, the number of smokers worldwide decreased between 2000 and 2022. One in five adults worldwide uses tobacco, compared to one in three at the turn of the millennium. In total, no less than 150 countries have recorded a decline in the number of smokers, notably Brazil, where more than a third of smokers (35%) have stopped since 2010.
Conversely, six other countries have seen their number of smokers increase over the past fifteen years, including Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman and Moldova.
Tobacco: vaping, less dangerous than cigarettes but not “harmless”
In its latest annual report on the progression of tobacco in the world, the WHO is alarmed by the consumption of children aged 13 to 15, which remains constant in many countries despite prevention efforts. A particularly worrying phenomenon, which led the international organization to dedicate this 27th edition of World Child Protection Days “against the interference of the tobacco industry”.
