Insider Monkey

Top 20 Countries With Least Smokers

Ramish Cheema
8 min read

In This Article:

In this piece, we will take a look at top 20 countries with the least smokers. If you want to skip our introduction and analysis of the tobacco and cigarette industry and want to jump ahead to the countries with the lowest percentage of daily smokers, head on over to Top 5 Countries With Least Smokers.

The ability to mass produce products has managed to significantly improve modern day standards of living. Whether it's a smartphone, clothes, or even something as simple as toothpaste, the fact that machines are capable of producing millions of these products has allowed humanity to collectively benefit from the advances in technology.

However, at the same time, the ability to mass produce cigarettes has caused significant loss of life as well. You might be surprised to hear that while the peak number of deaths in the second world war is estimated to sit at 60 million people, data shows that in the 20th century, a stunning 100 million people had lost their lives due to tobacco use. This death toll has its economic impact as well, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that smoking cost a whopping $600 billion in economic impact in the U.S. in 2018. Out of this, the lion's share goes to lost productivity due to both health problems and death, with both accounting for $180 billion, each. Additionally, $240 billion is spent on healthcare to navigate debilitating and deadly diseases from smoking such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and cancer.

Additionally, while smoking alone is dangerous, daily smoking is the deadliest form of smoking. On this front, data from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) sheds some light on the percentage of daily smokers in countries around the globe. Its data shows that the highest percentage of daily smokers are in several countries such as Russia, China, Ukraine, other Eastern European countries, and some North African countries. On the flip side, the lowest percentage of daily smokers, i.e., males who smoke cigarettes daily, is only in a few countries. The countries with the least percentage of daily male smokers include Mexico, Sudan, Ethiopia, Liberia, Guinea, Ecuador, Suriname, and Panama.

However, the picture shifts starkly when we take a look at the percentage of daily smokers in women. In fact, over here, nearly every country has the least percentage of daily smokers. There's nearly a laundry list of such countries where the percentage of women who smoke daily sits below 2.5%. These include Iran, China, nearly all of Africa, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Timor-Leste.

Terms and Privacy Policy
Your Privacy Choices
Utah Privacy Notice

Recommended Stories