Heaviest smokers in the world

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A global ranking of the heaviest smokers in the world, measured by the number of cigarettes smoked per person per year.

a map of the heaviest smokers in the world
The heaviest smokers in the world (Tobacco Atlas)

Now in its sixth edition, the Tobacco Atlas draws on data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Bank among others, to create the definitive global report on the consumption, production, marketing and effects of tobacco.

10 lightest and heaviest smokers

These countries smoke the least and most cigarettes per capita.

Lightest smokers

  1. Brunei
  2. Guinea-Bissau
  3. Mauritania
  4. Ghana
  5. Antigua & Barbuda
  6. India
  7. Swaziland
  8. Ecuador
  9. Rwanda
  10. Peru

Heaviest smokers

  1. Andorra
  2. Luxembourg
  3. Belarus
  4. North Macedonia
  5. Albania
  6. Belgium
  7. Czech Rep.
  8. Jordan
  9. Russia
  10. Syria

Key findings from the report

  • The number of cigarettes smoked worldwide is decreasing.
  • Around 5.7 trillion (5,700,000,000,000) cigarettes were smoked globally in 2016.
  • Tobacco will kill one billion (1,000,000,000) people this century if no action is taken.
  • Tobacco is the world’s leading preventable killer, causing health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease among other non-communicable diseases.
  • Lower socioeconomic groups tend to smoke more.
  • Eight out of 10 of the heaviest smokers in the world are European countries. The other two are Middle East countries.
  • China’s population smoke more than 40% of all cigarettes globally.
  • Cigarette consumption is predicted to increase in many low- and medium-developed countries. For example, the number of tobacco smokers is set to increase by 24 million in Indonesia and by 7 million in Nigeria from 2015 to 2025.
  • Andorra, Luxembourg and Belarus are the heaviest smoking countries in Europe.
  • Argentina, Canada and the USA are the heaviest smoking countries in the Americas.
  • China, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea are the heaviest smoking countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria are the heaviest smoking countries in Africa.
  • Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are the heaviest smoking countries in the Middle East.

Cigarette consumption by country – complete ranking

The table below ranks the world’s countries by the number of cigarettes smoked per person per year, aged 15 years or older. Data is from 2016 and includes estimates of legally-sold machine-made and roll-your-own cigarettes.

Some countries may have been omitted due to insufficient data.

RankCountryCigarette Consumption
1Andorra6,398.30
2Luxembourg6,330.87
3Belarus2,911.30
4North Macedonia2,784.93
5Albania2,491.60
6Belgium2,440.88
7Czech Rep.2,427.88
8Jordan2,306.09
9Russia2,294.96
10Syria2,291.74
11Slovenia2,236.48
12Greece2,078.55
13Hungary2,060.34
14China2,043.01
15Lebanon2,037.54
16Armenia1,985.67
17Mongolia1,982.45
18Cyprus1,961.35
19Austria1,926.95
20Georgia1,917.72
21Serbia1,898.57
22Ukraine1,849.41
23Kazakhstan1,800.88
24Turkey1,770.73
25Bosnia & Herz.1,767.16
26Estonia1,759.91
27Bulgaria1,757.25
28Moldova1,747.22
29Papua New Guinea1,689.30
30Indonesia1,675.49
31South Korea1,667.39
32Germany1,599.52
33Japan1,583.16
34Tunisia1,579.95
35Croatia1,578.88
36Malta1,527.90
37Azerbaijan1,525.57
38Slovakia1,500.90
39Spain1,498.99
40Italy1,493.27
41Switzerland1,489.80
42Samoa1,470.65
43Netherlands1,459.87
44Egypt1,449.41
45Solomon Islands1,419.13
46Kuwait1,412.68
47Kiribati1,396.04
48Poland1,363.10
49Saudi Arabia1,340.96
50Denmark1,298.04
51Lithuania1,292.02
52Israel1,280.73
53Romania1,204.27
54Latvia1,189.09
55Iraq1,184.44
56Argentina1,176.13
57Portugal1,133.39
58Philippines1,132.24
59Bahrain1,101.50
60Montenegro1,100.83
61Finland1,098.80
62France1,089.87
63Vanuatu1,069.16
64Vietnam1,049.57
65Algeria1,046.67
66Canada1,021.32
67Qatar1,020.34
68USA1,016.61
69North Korea993.29
70Tonga986.93
71Ireland976.50
72Turkmenistan962.11
73Iran936.54
74Australia916.98
75Uruguay899.39
76Singapore851.18
77Iceland848.11
78Thailand837.42
79UK827.67
80Laos814.64
81Djibouti785.52
82Chile769.34
83UAE748.45
84Bangladesh744.08
85Cambodia726.15
86Sweden716.16
87New Zealand685.12
88Trinidad & Tobago682.51
89Morocco682.31
90Comoros585.40
91Maldives560.86
92St. Lucia553.91
93Norway552.79
94Seychelles543.64
95Mauritius542.47
96Kyrgyzstan519.59
97Suriname511.74
98Nepal511.65
99South Africa509.55
100Mozambique501.90
101Uzbekistan495.92
102Fiji491.05
103Honduras469.80
104Sierra Leone468.59
105Gabon451.24
106Lesotho448.00
107Malaysia441.16
108Bahamas438.63
109Botswana433.48
110Yemen423.85
111Costa Rica411.37
112Burkina Faso408.14
113Madagascar404.18
114Cape Verde397.13
115Venezuela396.16
116Paraguay384.51
117South Sudan383.67
118Pakistan363.17
119Tajikistan361.14
120Senegal359.41
121Guyana359.14
122Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)352.67
123Colombia351.37
124Angola340.19
125Sudan339.85
126Brazil333.50
127Equatorial Guinea328.25
128Nicaragua327.79
129Libya327.16
130Mexico327.08
131Mali316.93
132Guinea316.04
133Jamaica312.47
134Afghanistan311.60
135Namibia298.41
136Bolivia291.60
137Chad279.33
138Barbados277.52
139Oman271.09
140Kenya264.38
141St. Vinc. & Gren.259.61
142Sri Lanka254.64
143Gambia249.05
144Malawi241.08
145Burundi239.45
146Cuba233.52
147Myanmar226.50
148Panama219.33
149Dominican Rep.218.92
150Central African Rep.213.15
151El Salvador206.70
152Benin204.02
153Somalia198.47
154Uganda195.72
155Congo195.25
156Tanzania181.78
157Cameroon171.03
158Belize168.62
159Nigeria162.50
160Grenada158.20
161Liberia154.43
162Dominica147.39
163Togo147.33
164Zambia145.42
165Haiti143.03
166Eritrea132.32
167DR Congo128.02
168Zimbabwe122.86
169Niger118.81
170Ethiopia115.29
171Guatemala111.77
172Peru97.69
173Rwanda93.99
174Ecuador93.49
175Swaziland91.66
176India89.29
177Antigua & Barbuda89.22
178Ghana40.54
179Mauritania30.26
180Guinea-Bissau25.28
181Brunei9.68

Source: The Tobacco Atlas