Prevalence of tobacco use
[2] Smoking is globally five times more prevalent among men than women;[3][4] however, the gender gap is smaller in rich countries and in younger age groups.
[7] Smoking prevalence has changed little since the mid-1990s, before which time it declined in English-speaking countries due to the implementation of tobacco control.
[10] One of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 of the United Nations (to be achieved by 2030) is to "Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate."
[11] WHO states that "Much of the disease burden and premature mortality attributable to tobacco use disproportionately affect the poor".
[13] One of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 of the United Nations (to be achieved by 2030) is to "Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate."
The indicator that is used to measure progress is the "age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older".
[14] The following is a list of countries by the percentage of age-standardized prevalence of tobacco use (including products such as snus) among persons 15 years and older as published by the World Health Organization.
Provincially, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, experienced most of their declines in current smoking prevalence from 1994 to 1995 onwards.
[29] According to a 2010 study by University of Bielefeld, 9.9% of all 15-year-old males and 10.8% of 15-year-old females smoked daily, which showed a strong decline during the previous decade.
[30] As in other industrial countries the prevalence of smoking in Germany is lower among people with higher education level.
A 2006 a comparative study found that 25.1% of male and 20.6% of female medical students in Göttingen smoked, while in London the percentages were only 10.9% and 9.1%.
[31] Germany had the largest number of cigarette vending machines per capita in the world: 1 per 102.5 people.
[35] In 2005, research has shown that Israeli youths have begun to use bidis and hookah, as alternative methods of tobacco use.
For instance, advertising is prohibited in youth publications and is forbidden on television and radio,[36] in addition to substantial increases in tobacco taxes, although the prices are still among the lowest compared to all of the European countries.
[39] A Ministry of Health nationwide survey conducted in 2011 found that 20.6% of the population aged 21 and older were smokers.
By 2011 that number had fallen to 20% of the population, thanks to stringent tobacco control laws which are amongst the world's strictest.
[41] A report commissioned in 2012 revealed that 34.9% of men smoked daily, compared to 14.5% of women, and in the preceding 12 months, 37.8% of regular smokers had attempted to quit at least once.
The historical data series shows the rate in Spain has fallen more than 10 points from 1993 to 2017, from 44% to 25.6% for men and from 20.8% to 18.8% for women.
[50] Figures from 2013 show that proportion of the British population (UK excluding Northern Ireland) who smoke has fallen to 19%.
Based on educational level in 2005, the percentage of U.S. adult smokers was highest among those who had earned a high school diploma or its GED equivalent, at 43.2%.
