The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control

Chapter 2: Patterns of Tobacco Use, Exposure, and Health Consequences
Table 2.2 (continued)
Sex
World Bank country
income group
Estimated
Projected
2000 2005 2010 2013 2015* 2020* 2025*
Female Global 222 202 184 175 168 154 142
High-income 112 106 99 95 91 85 78
Upper middle-income 61 56 51 48 46 42 38
Lower middle-income 38 31 26 24 23 20 18
Low-income 12 10 8 8 7 7 7
Both sexes Global 1,128 1,119 1,112 1,113 1,114 1,126 1,147
High-income 305 288 271 260 253 236 221
Upper middle-income 453 459 459 457 455 450 443
Lower middle-income 290 292 301 310 318 341 369
Low-income 80 80 82 85 88 99 114
*Projections are shown for the years 2015, 2020, and 2025.
Notes: WHO = World Health Organization. High-income OECD countries = countries defined as high-income by the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development. High-income OECD countries are excluded from their respective regions. Country income group classification based on
World Bank Analytical Classifications for 2013.
Source: Based on data from World Health Organization 2015. 1 For more information, see the Statistical Annex.
Analyzing global data for 2013 by sex, there were just over five times as many male smokers
(938 million) as female smokers (175 million) (Table 2.2). The majority of male adult smokers lived in
the WHO Regions of the Western Pacific (333 million) and South-East Asia (213 million), accounting
for 58% of all male smokers in the world. A very different picture emerges for females. Of the
175 million female smokers age 15 years and over in 2013, the large majority (80 million, or 46%) lived
in high-income OECD countries. When using the World Bank country income groups, this proportion is
even higher: 54% of female smokers globally live in high-income countries (HICs). 1 The lower
prevalence of cigarette smoking among women in many LMICs and certain world regions results from
many factors including low social acceptability of women’s tobacco use, various sociocultural and
religious factors, women’s limited financial resources, and others. 13 However, in many LMICs,
traditional constraints on women’s tobacco use are likely to erode as women’s social, legal, economic,
and political status improves. 14 Evidence indicates that the influence of norms and traditions may
already be weakening. For example, data from 14 countries that participated in the Global Adult
Tobacco Survey (GATS) 15 show that women are increasingly initiating smoking at an age similar to that
of men. 16 Thus, continued vigilance is warranted in order to avert a rise in smoking among women.
Fitted estimates to generate the underlying trends for most countries are also available in the
WHO Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Smoking, 2015. 1 The data for 2013 indicate
that nearly two-thirds of the world’s smokers lived in just 13 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, People’s
Republic of China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Turkey,
United States, and Viet Nam) (Table 2.3 and Figure 2.3). These 13 countries accounted for a total of
736.3 million smokers (646.2 million males and 90.1 million females), with the remaining countries
accounting for 376.9 million smokers.
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