Tobacco smoking in Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, with some restrictions, cigarettes are legal to sell, smoke, and import for trade (with a license). However, there is a complete ban on all tobacco advertising, as well as on purchasing cigarettes online or from vending machines. Additionally, the law requires health warnings on all packaging, sets a minimum age of 18 for sales, and includes legal restrictions on smoking in public places. Cigarettes are subject to a 56.10% specific excise tax, contributing to a total taxation rate of 65.19%.

The current prevalence of tobacco smoking among adults aged 15 years and older in Papua New Guinea was 40.1% as of 2024. This prevalence was 54.4% among males and 25.1% among females. The total number of smokers was approximately 2.8 million individuals in 2024. In comparison, the previous estimates from December 2020 indicated an overall current prevalence of 40.5%, with a slight decrease among females and males from 25.4% and 55.2% respectively. For reference, the adult daily smoking prevalence in 2017 was 31.1%, with a prevalence of 42.2% among males and 19.8% among females.

Smoking-related mortalities remain a significant concern in Papua New Guinea which accounted for 8.81% of all deaths in the country in 2021, with 9.57% among males and 7.73% among females. This resulted in 7,068 smoking-related deaths that year. In comparison, smoking-related deaths constituted a higher percentage of overall mortality of 18.9%, corresponding to a total of 12,841 deaths. This highlights a decrease in smoking-related mortalities over recent years. These data underscore the ongoing public health challenges associated with tobacco smoking in Papua New Guinea and the need for continued public health efforts to reduce its health impacts.