Fewer smokers globally, still 8 million deaths each year due to tobacco

There are fewer and fewer smokers worldwide. Last year, for example, 1.3 billion people regularly lit up a cigarette, compared to 1.32 billion in 2018. This is according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“It is very encouraging to see fewer people using tobacco every year, but we still have a long way to go, and tobacco companies will continue to use every trick to defend the massive profits they make from their deadly commodities,” says WHO Chef Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The number of smokers is expected to fall to 1.27 billion by 2025. This would reduce the number of tobacco users by 50 million in seven years, while the world population is growing. In 2000, nearly a third of the world’s population over the age of 15 smoked. That is expected to be one-fifth by 2025.

Further measures

36.7 percent of men smoke and 7.8 percent of women. Worldwide, 38 million children aged 13 to 15 smoke.

Tobacco kills an estimated 8 million people every year. That number is set to rise in the coming years, according to the report. The WHO, therefore, calls on countries to take further measures to make smoking less attractive, such as higher excise taxes, a ban on advertising, and warnings on cigarette packs.