Smoking Statistics From Around the World

Smoking Statistics From Around the World Addiction Nicotine Use Smoking-Related Diseases Print Smoking Statistics From Around the World By Terry Martin facebook twitter Terry Martin quit smoking after 26 years and is now an advocate for those seeking freedom from nicotine addiction. Learn about our editorial policy Terry Martin Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Sanja Jelic, MD on March 13, 2016 Sanja Jelic, MD, is board-certified in sleep medicine, critical care medicine, pulmonary disease, and internal medicine.   Learn about our Medical Review Board Sanja Jelic, MD Updated on January 29, 2020 Jim Arbogast/Digital Vision/Getty Images More in Addiction Nicotine Use Smoking-Related Diseases After You Quit How to Quit Smoking Nicotine Withdrawal The Inside of Cigarettes Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Coping and Recovery As of Dec. 20, 2019, the new legal age limit is 21 years old for purchasing cigarettes, cigars, or any other tobacco products in the U.S. Tobacco use has reached epidemic proportions worldwide, and, despite efforts to reverse smoking trends, the problem only seems to be getting bigger each year. While smokers know full well that cigarettes offer nothing but harm to their health, they will ignore every warning until something suddenly clicks and tells them that its time to stop. So, instead of just looking at the benefits of quitting, here are some cold, hard facts that may put the scale of the problem into perspective. The Tobacco Industry Today Around 6.5 trillion cigarettes are sold around the world each year, which translates to roughly 18 billion cigarettes per day. It is a lucrative industry and one that makes its fortunes largely off the back of the poorest people in the world, both in terms of supply and demand. Of the estimated one billion smokers in the world, 80% live in low- and middle-income countries. Of the estimated 33 million tobacco farmworkers in the industry, a substantial proportion live in the poorest communities and regions. In some of these countries, even children are forced to work in the fields to help pay the family bills. This places them and the other farmworkers at risk of green tobacco sickness, an illness caused by the absorption of nicotine through the skin from the handling of wet leaves. While the United States has significantly decreased its share of tobacco farming from over 180,000 farms in the 1980s to just over 10,000 today, it is still the fourth-largest producer in the world. This despite the fact that smoking-related diseases cost the U.S. more than $300 billion per year. China, India, and Brazil are today the three largest tobacco-producing countries. Not surprisingly, it is within these many of these nations that smoking awareness is at its lowest. For example: A 2009 survey in China showed that only 38% of smokers knew that smoking could cause heart disease while only 27% knew that it could lead to a stroke.Similarly, more than 25% of the population of Bangladesh, India, the Netherlands, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam were unaware of the association between smoking and cardiovascular diseases.Meanwhile, 17% of smokers in New Zealand, 14% in France, and 13% in the United States were unaware of the cardiovascular risks of smoking despite the fact that heart diseaseâ€"and not lung cancerâ€"is the number one killer of smokers. Current Health Statistics While smokers often will often assume that lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases are a roll of the dice beyond their control, consider these facts: Tobacco today kills around half of all smokers.Globally, tobacco causes six million deaths per year. Thats one death every five seconds.Of the total number of deaths, 600,000 are among non-smokers who had been exposed to secondhand smoke.By 2030, if the trend continues, the number of deaths will rise to eight million.Smoking is the direct cause of one of every five deaths in the U.S. That translates to roughly 480,000 deaths annually, 1,300 smoking-related deaths per day, 54 deaths per hour, or almost one death per minute.Every cigarette you smoke cuts five to 11 minutes from your life. Over a lifetime, that can reduce your life expectancy by as much as 12 years.Around 25% of all heart disease deaths and 75% of lung disease deaths are directly attributed to smoking irrespective of any other cause. Youth Smoking Statistics Not all of the news is bad. It was in 1997 that smoking reached its peak among American youth with 36.4% reporting that had given cigarettes a try. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that figure has since plummeted to just over 10%. Despite these gains, the outlook is far from rosy. Among the CDC findings: Every day, 3,200 Americans under 18 will light up their first cigarette.Of these, 2,100 will go on to become full-time smokers.Nearly nine out of every 10 smokers in the U.S. tried their first cigarette before the age of 18.The increasing popularity of flavored tobacco is believed to be the next public health threat among teens and adolescents. As a result, the FDAs latest policy requires e-cigarette companies to cease manufacturing and selling flavored vaping products (excluding menthol and tobacco) by the end of January 2020. As of 2014, 73% of high school smokers and 56% of middle school smokers reported the use of flavored tobacco.Meanwhile, 4.3% of middle school students and 11.3% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes.Additionally, 2.2% of middle school students and 5.8% of high school students reported using chewing tobacco, a practice strongly linked to oral cancer. A Word From Verywell Despite the downbeat statistics, most smokers in the U.S. understand the enormous dangers of smoking. In fact, according to the CDC, nearly 70% of American smokers want to quit and around 40% have made at least one attempt to quit in the past year. The challenge, of course, is that it may take up to 30 attempts before a person is able to stop, say researchers from the John Hopkins School of Public Health. It can be an arduous process but one that can ultimately improve your health no matter how many years you have smoked. In the end, it is never too late to quit. Take it one step at a time. With support, patience, and dedication, you will kick the habit.