Tobacco smoking in United Arab Emirates

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), smoking is allowed but subject to strict regulations. Based on these regulations, there is a complete ban on all forms of tobacco advertising including cigarettes. While the importation of cigarettes for trade with appropriate license is allowed, they are not permitted to be purchased online or through vending machines. Additionally, health warnings on packaging are required, and legal restrictions on smoking in public places are enforced. While there is no excise tax on cigarettes in the UAE, the total taxation rate of 71.72% is applied on these products.

The current smoking prevalence among adults aged 15 years and older was reported to be 11.1% in 2024 in the UAE. The prevalence rates based on gender in the same year indicate a significant difference. Males had a higher smoking prevalence, with 15.5%, compared to a 2.6% smoking prevalence among females. These data reflect an increase from earlier figures in 2019, where the overall smoking prevalence was 14.7%, with a prevalence of 29% among males and 0.5% among females. The obsolute nubmer of smokers show that there were approximately one million tobacco smokers in the UAE in 2024, which shows a decline from 1,2 million smokers in 2019. The adult daily tobacco smoking prevalence in the country in 2018 was estimated to be 8%, with 13.9% among males and 2% among females.

The impact of smoking on public health in the UAE is reflected by smoking mortality in 2021. That year, there were 1,693 smoking-related deaths which comprised 8.45% of all deaths in the country. The gender distribution of these deaths showed notable difference, with 1,479 male deaths (10.23% of all male deaths) and 214 female deaths (3.86% of all female deaths). These data provide a detailed overview of the tobacco smoking prevalence and their mortalities in the UAE, highlighting the ongoing public health challenges associated with tobacco smoking in the country.