Countries With the Highest Levels of Mortality Attributable to Smoking Tobacco

Deaths from smoking remain high. This is linked both to the current prevalence of smoking, and the legacy of smoking in previous years. There are 27 countries where 20% or more of deaths are attributable to smoking, as shown in this graphic. In addition to the huge human toll of illness and death there is the enormous cost to the global economy. Considering both direct costs of hospital care and medication, and indirect costs of lost productivity, it has been calculated that the annual global cost of smoking-related disease and death amounts to $1.4 trillion. Extrapolated to the end of the century, the figure comes to $112 trillion. According to the 2019 World Bank data, this is $24 trillion more than current annual global GDP.

See also p.33 of the report: Burning Issues: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2020