⚠️ Unconfirmedhealth2022

Women’s share of the adult (15+) population who smoke tobacco (current tobacco smoking, %)

Name: Women’s share of the adult (15+) population who smoke tobacco (current tobacco smoking, %)
Creator: World Health Organization (WHO) — Global Health Observatory / WHO tobacco use estimates
Keywords: statistic-of-the-day, ai-generated, tobacco, smoking, women, NCDs, risk factors, public health

Percentage of women ages 15+ who currently smoke any tobacco product, based on WHO-modeled estimates, comparable across most countries (2022).

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) — Global Health Observatory / WHO tobacco use estimates•100 countries

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Key Insights

Global Average

9.5%

Median: 6.3%

Countries Covered

100

with available data

Highest

Serbia

31.8%

Lowest

Nigeria

0.2%

Top 5 Countries

1Serbia31.8%

2Papua New Guinea28.9%

3Chile28.2%

4Bangladesh27.5%

5Greece27.0%

By Region

Europe17.7%(30 countries)

Oceania12.4%(2 countries)

South America10.5%(6 countries)

North America7.1%(4 countries)

Asia5.5%(22 countries)

Key Findings

•Female smoking prevalence varies by more than an order of magnitude across countries, reflecting strong cultural and policy differences.
•Many countries show very low reported female smoking, but underreporting is a known risk in some contexts.
•Several European countries have comparatively high female smoking prevalence, keeping tobacco a major women’s health risk factor.
•The measure is useful for tracking progress toward tobacco control targets and anticipating future NCD burdens.

Country Rankings

Top 10 Countries

Bottom 10 Countries

Data Analysis

Value Distribution

How countries are distributed across the value range

Low (0.2%)High (35.0%)

Regional Comparison

Average values by world region (Global avg: 9.5%)

Europe (30)

Oceania (2)

South America (6)

North America (4)

Asia (22)

Other (29)

Africa (7)

About This Statistic

This statistic shows the percentage of women aged 15 and older who are “current tobacco smokers,” meaning they use any tobacco product (smoked forms) at the time of the survey/estimate. It captures substantial cross-country differences in female smoking—shaped by norms, policy, prices, marketing, and cohort effects.

WHO compiles and harmonizes nationally representative surveys (e.g., STEPS, DHS, GATS, national health surveys) and produces modeled, comparable estimates for most countries and years. Female smoking prevalence is often far lower than male smoking in many regions, but in some high-income and parts of Europe it can be relatively high, making the gender pattern itself a useful global signal for public health surveillance and policy targeting.

Full Data

Rank ↑	Country ↕	Value ↕
1	Serbia	31.8%
2	Papua New Guinea	28.9%
3	Chile	28.2%
4	Bangladesh	27.5%
5	Greece	27.0%
6	France	24.8%
7	Hungary	24.0%
8	Croatia	22.4%
9	Germany	22.3%
10	Netherlands	21.6%
11	Slovakia	21.5%
12	Ireland	21.0%
13	Spain	20.6%
14	Armenia	20.3%
15	Poland	19.6%
16	Portugal	19.3%
17	Italy	19.2%
18	Latvia	18.8%
19	Belgium	18.6%
20	Czech Republic	18.1%
21	Uruguay	17.9%
22	Luxembourg	17.8%
23	Lithuania	17.3%
24	Denmark	16.6%
25	Romania	16.3%
26	Switzerland	16.2%
27	Israel	16.1%
28	Norway	15.7%
29	Türkiye	15.2%
30	Iceland	15.0%
31	Afghanistan	14.8%
32	Russian Federation	14.4%
33	Estonia	13.7%
34	Sweden	13.6%
35	Bahrain	13.5%
36	United Kingdom	13.2%
37	New Zealand	13.0%
38	Algeria	12.7%
39	Finland	12.5%
40	Australia	11.7%
41	Brazil	10.9%
42	Ukraine	10.6%
43	Canada	10.4%
44	Lebanon	10.2%
45	Japan	10.0%
46	United States of America	10.0%
47	Cuba	8.9%
48	South Africa	7.5%
49	Yemen	6.6%
50	Belarus	6.3%
51	Mexico	6.2%
52	Costa Rica	6.1%
53	Georgia	6.0%
54	Venezuela	5.2%
55	Albania	4.6%
56	Jordan	4.0%
57	South Korea	3.7%
58	Mongolia	3.6%
59	Colombia	3.4%
60	Pakistan	3.4%
61	Philippines	3.2%
62	Singapore	3.0%
63	Dominican Republic	2.9%
64	Myanmar	2.4%
65	Thailand	2.4%
66	Haiti	2.3%
67	Indonesia	2.1%
68	Kyrgyzstan	2.1%
69	Cambodia	2.0%
70	Guatemala	2.0%
71	Kuwait	2.0%
72	Islamic Republic of Iran	1.9%
73	Kazakhstan	1.9%
74	People's Republic of China	1.8%
75	Ecuador	1.6%
76	El Salvador	1.4%
77	India	1.4%
78	Nicaragua	1.4%
79	Kenya	1.3%
80	Honduras	1.2%
81	Morocco	1.2%
82	Saudi Arabia	1.2%
83	Austria	1.2%
84	Vietnam	1.1%
85	Guinea	1.0%
86	Iraq	1.0%
87	Malaysia	1.0%
88	Panama	1.0%
89	Zambia	1.0%
90	Argentina	0.8%
91	Bulgaria	0.7%
92	Tunisia	0.7%
93	Angola	0.7%
94	Senegal	0.6%
95	Sudan	0.6%
96	Egypt	0.5%
97	Rwanda	0.4%
98	South Sudan	0.4%
99	Maldives	0.3%
100	Nigeria	0.2%

Showing 100 of 100 countries

Topics

#statistic-of-the-day #ai-generated #tobacco #smoking #women #NCDs #risk factors #public health

Data Source

This data comes from World Health Organization (WHO) — Global Health Observatory / WHO tobacco use estimates (2022).

View Original Source