Tobacco how many people die

In about 55 countries, at least one-fifth of all deaths in males are attributable to smoking. These countries generally are high- or very high-HDI countries, mostly located in Europe 33 countries or the Western Pacific region 11 countries , although there are two or more such countries in the other World Health Organization regions, except the African region. The lower tobacco-related burden in Sub-Saharan Africa reflects its historical lower smoking prevalence.

With its rapidly-growing populations and rising life expectancy, an increase in the number of smokers along with population aging is likely to make Africa suffer the most from future smoking-related burden. Consistent with lower female smoking prevalence in many countries, the tobacco-related burden in women is lower than in men globally. However, with recent increases in smoking prevalence among female adolescents in some countries, this pattern may not continue.

In addition to very high-HDI countries, with current trends, most other countries are or will soon be facing substantial smoking-related burden, while many already have limited health resources.

Even in very high-HDI countries, smoking prevalence and the related burden are now far higher among lower-income groups, which are more likely to have limited access to care. This dynamic further underscores the need for effective tobacco control to improve health and reduce disparities at the population level in all countries. Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from bronchitis and emphysema by 12 times; from cancer of the trachea, lung, and bronchus by more than 12 times.

Death from Specific Diseases. Department of Health and Human Services. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U. New England Journal of Medicine, ; 4 —50 [accessed Aug 17]. National Cancer Institute. Cigars: Health Effects and Trends external icon. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. Bethesda MD : U. World Health Organization. In many countries — particularly across Asia and Africa — the differences are very large. We also see this when we look at a map of smoking among women across the world: across much of Africa and Asia, rates are very low.

You can find the world map of smoking rates in men here. The fact that men are more likely than women to smoke is reflected health statistics: particularly lung cancer, for which smoking is a primary risk factor.

We see that in every country in the world, men are more likely to die from lung cancer. Related chart — number of daily smokers by sex.

This chart details the number of men and women who smoke daily. The extent of smoking is not only determined by the prevalence of populations who smoke, but also by the intensity of smoking. This is measured as the average number of cigarettes consumed by smokers.

In the visualization here we see differences in the average number of cigarettes consumed by smokers each day across the world. Since then, trends in smoking have undergone a century-long cycle of peak and decline. Here we see that all countries followed a very similar trajectory: a steep rise in cigarette consumption during the early-to-mid s; peaking from the mid-to-latter half of the century; before entering into a steep decline in the decades which followed.

The path for almost all rich countries today was very similar. What is notable is that this rise-peak-fall pathway took around a century in all cases.

This long trajectory has had major health impacts for the populations of rich countries today. The rise, peak then decline of smoking in rich countries took around a century. A long trajectory with severe health impacts. This timescale is important when we consider low-to-middle income countries today: if they are to avoid the scale of the health consequences seen by rich countries, they must move through this pathway much quicker.

The positive news is that most have — smoking is already falling in most countries today. In the visualization here we see the share of adults who smoking in the year on the y-axis and on the x-axis. The grey line here shows parity: countries that lie along this line would have the same prevalence of smoking in as in Countries which lie above this line had higher smoking prevalence in ; those below had lower prevalence in We see that most countries lie above the grey line: this means the share of adults who smoke has declined in most countries in the world over the past 16 years.

This is a surprising fact to many, since it means smoking prevalence is not only falling in high-income countries, but also at low-to-middle incomes.

Almost everywhere, smoking is on the decline. This chart shows death rates from lung cancer in men in the US and Spain since It is possible to add many more countries to this chart.

In many countries we see a significant rise, peak and then decline in lung cancer death rates in the 20th century. In the United States, the death rate peaked in the s in men. In Spain this peak was later, only in the s. These trends are driven by the trends in smoking. The other chart shows the sales of cigarettes per person. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer and we see that the trends in lung cancer follow those in smoking with a lag of around 20 years.

In 7 Million people globally died a premature death because of smoking. The fact that smoking causes lung cancer is the major reason for the high death toll of smoking. It is possible to add the data to lung cancer in women in the US to this chart.

In the US it was once much more common for men to smoke so that the peaks of lung cancer for men are much higher. Smoking became more common for women only later so that lung cancer death rates for women peaked later.

The world map shows the Global Burden of Disease estimates of the share of cancer deaths that can be attributed to smoking. In poor countries, where fewer people were smoking in the past, tobacco is responsible for a much smaller faction of cancer deaths. Tobacco kills one person every 34 seconds in the Americas. Tobacco use and lung health As well as being a major risk factor for lung and other pulmonary cancers in the Americas, tobacco use also causes and exacerbates a wide range of other diseases of the lung.

Improving lung health No level of exposure to tobacco smoke is risk-free. Links — World No Tobacco Day. Communication Material. Stronger Together.