During the recent G7 summit, a video of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni was in discussion. During the conversation he told that he had quit smoking last month. This decision was appreciated all over the world. Actually, this is not just his story. People all over the world are gradually staying away from tobacco and cigarettes. Recent surveys in India also show that the number of smokers is decreasing. But there are some countries where this habit, especially among women, still remains a big challenge. Europe still remains the biggest center of smoking among women. The smoking rate of women in Europe is 17.3%, which is almost three times higher than the global average. More than 40% of the world’s female smokers live in Europe alone. Know about those 3 countries where smoking addiction is not decreasing…
1. Bulgaria
About 40% of the population in Bulgaria uses tobacco. This is the highest in Europe. According to European Union data, 37% people here smoke regularly. No significant reduction in smoking was seen even among women.
2. Serbia
The overall smoking rate in Serbia is 31.5%. The level of smoking among women is 17.2%. Smoking is quite socially accepted here. Tobacco control laws are also considered weak.
3. Greece
Greece is among the most smoking countries in Europe. The smoking rate here is around 32%. WHO believes that this is why Europe could not achieve the target of reducing tobacco consumption among women. Because in countries like Greece the decline was very slow. According to WHO Europe, the use of tobacco and e-cigarettes among girls aged 13 to 15 is the highest in the world. Use of e-cigarette has reached 14.3%.
What is the situation in India?
The situation has improved in India, but the challenge is still big. About 28.6% to 29% of adults in the country use tobacco. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 42% men consume tobacco, while 14% women consume tobacco. The smoking rate in India was 9.3% in 2024. Of these, men were 16.7% and women were 1.4%. The special thing about India is that more people here use smokeless tobacco like Khaini, Gutkha, Zarda and Beedi than cigarettes. About 70% of the world’s smokeless tobacco consumers live in India.
According to India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), tobacco use among women has decreased in almost all the states. However, this problem still persists in Mizoram and Sikkim. India also has to suffer huge economic losses every year due to tobacco. In 2017-18, it was estimated at ₹1.77 lakh crore, which was 1.04% of GDP at that time.
What is happening in other parts of the world?
- Tobacco use among men in Southeast Asia is expected to decline from 70% in 2000 to 37% in 2024.
- Tobacco consumption is lowest in Africa at 9.5%.
- A decrease of 36% was recorded in the Americas region.
- Improvement was slowest in the Western Pacific region.
Brazil and the Netherlands are considered the biggest successes in tobacco control. Brazil recorded a 35% reduction in tobacco use since 2010. On the other hand, tobacco consumption is still increasing in countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Moldova and Congo.
amazEvery fifth person in the world uses tobacco
According to the 2025 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), in the year 2000, about 1.38 billion people in the world used tobacco. By 2024 this number will reduce to 1.2 billion. Since 2010, about 12 crore people have given up tobacco. Despite this, every fifth adult in the world still uses tobacco in some form or the other.
In comparison, women are in a better position. In 2010, 11% of the world’s women used tobacco. This figure will come down to 6.6% in 2024. Their number also decreased from 27.7 crore to 20.6 crore. There has also been a decline in men, but the pace is slow. In 2010, 41.4% men used tobacco, which will reduce to 32.5% in 2024.
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