Filenews 5 September 2023 - by Panagiota Charalambous
While around the world, 1/3 of all countries banned tobacco advertising and while many countries have started increasing tax rates on tobacco products – which has proven successful in reducing smoking rates – Cyprus ranks 11th among 150 countries worldwide in terms of smoking prevalence in 2023.
The estimated percentage of smokers in each country in 2020.
Smoking prevalence 2023: The estimated percentage of smokers in each country in 2023.
Cigarette Market Share: The amount of money spent on cigarettes in each country in 2022
Lung cancer rates: The number of new lung cancer cases per 100,000 people in each country.
According to research data from Compare the Market Australia, which has analysed smoking prevalence in recent years, revenue from cigarette sales, as well as the rate of lung cancer in different countries around the world, Serbia is the country with the highest smoking rates worldwide.
Specifically, Serbia ranked first in the index with an overall score of 3,008 and the highest smoking prevalence among the 115 countries analyzed, with 39% of the population registered as a smoker in 2023. Although this rate has decreased by 0.8% in the last 3 years, smoking prevalence is still alarmingly high compared to other countries. In addition, Serbia also has the highest rates of lung cancer, 113 per 100,000 people, which further strengthens the link between smoking and lung cancer infection.
China was the next country on the list with an overall score of 2.634 and with over $273 billion in cigarette revenue for the country. In fact, one in three cigarettes smoked in the world is smoked in China! However, smoking rates in China have fallen by 0.5%, from 23.5% to 23% in the past three years, meaning cigarette use is declining. Interestingly, China has almost half the lung cancer rate of Serbia, 57 per 100,000 people.
In addition, the survey shows that Austria was the country that recorded the largest decrease in smoking rates between 2020 and 2023 and ranks 30th. It is worth noting that Austria introduced a comprehensive smoke-free policy in 2019, which, despite initially being met with protests, clearly affected smoking adoption.
It should be noted that the 9 countries of the top ten (including Greece) with the highest smoking rates are European.
The World Health Organization reports that the habit of smoking still kills about 8 million people each year. Worldwide it is estimated that there are about 1.3 billion smokers.
Commenting on the study, Hannah Norton, spokesperson for Compare the Market AU, said: "The risks of smoking are universally accepted as negative effects on many aspects of health, from the lungs to the skin. However, in many parts of the world, most notably the Balkan and Eastern European countries, smoking rates remain high. This can be due to a variety of reasons, from social acceptance to a lack of active and aggressive educational and preventive programs. However, our study reinforces the link between smoking prevalence and cancer rates, showing that more needs to be done to discourage people from starting the habit."
