Cigarettes Are So Yesterday: Percentage of Smokers Dropped Globally

Tobacco control is responsible for saving millions of lives with new reports showing that the percentage of adult smokers has declined globally.

In 2007, 22.7 percent of people worldwide smoked. By 2019, the percentage of people who smoked was down about three percentage points, to 19.6 percent. Today, an estimated 1.13 billion people smoke.

Nearly $2 trillion is spent annually on health care costs due to premature death and sickness caused by tobacco. Reports show that “tobacco taxes” significantly decreased consumption in many countries including Saudi Arabia by 37 percent, Sri Lanka by 44 percent, and Peru by a staggering 73.5 percent. With certain measures such as continued education and tobacco taxes, the trend toward abstinence will hopefully continue.