The Hindu : International / Globescan : Drop in global smoking, says study

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 16, 2005

International

International - Globescan

Drop in global smoking, says study

LONDON: Global cigarette production per person has fallen to its lowest level since 1972 — another signal that people around the world are kicking the habit. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, average cigarette production last year was 868 cigarettes — about 40 packets — for every person in the world. This compares with a high of more than 1,000 per person per year throughout the 1980s, when the global population was about 1.5 billion less. According to the U.S. Worldwatch Institute, which collects Government data from around the world, there are now more than 1.1 billion smokers, of whom only 15 per cent live in rich countries. Some 4.8 million people are believed to have died prematurely last year from smoking-related illnesses. The number of cigarettes actually smoked last year is thought to have been 5,530 trillion, the lowest number in 10 years. The number of smokers is falling rapidly in the U.S., Europe, and in Japan, where 30 per cent of people still smoke. But numbers are levelling off in China and increasing in Africa. According to Worldwatch, smoking will become the world's leading cause of death within 25 years, killing more than 10 million people a year. One of the countries that has done most to stop smoking is Poland, which has reduced cigarette consumption by 10 per cent and the number of smokers by 20 per cent since 1995. important tobacco control victory has been the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco control,'' the report says. —

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

Students defy ban order in Nepal

Donors to discuss post-tsunami recovery

Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq amid violence

Funds trial affects Hillary's hopes

Drop in global smoking, says study

Equatorial Guinea plotters released

McCartney family faces threat

Bangalore our priority: France

Woman awarded $4 million

Training centre for construction workers opened in Jakarta