Countries by Prevalence of current tobacco use (% of adults)

Nauru ranks first in tobacco use prevalence among adults, with 48.3% of its adult population currently using tobacco products as of 2022. At the other end, Nigeria records the lowest rate at 3.3%, creating a spread of more than 45 percentage points across 164 countries. That gap reflects the wide variation in tobacco consumption patterns across regions, income levels, and cultural contexts visible in this dataset.

Population & Health category

Ranking 2022

Values shown in %.

Countries by Prevalence of current tobacco use (% of adults)
Rank	Country	%
1	Nauru	48.30
2	Myanmar	44.40
3	Kiribati	39.70
4	Papua New Guinea	39.60
5	Bulgaria	39.50
5	Serbia	39.50
7	Timor-Leste	38.70
8	Indonesia	38.20
9	Croatia	37.00
10	Solomon Islands	36.90
11	Andorra	36.30
12	Bosnia and Herzegovina	36.20
13	Cyprus	35.60
13	Jordan	35.60
15	France	34.60
16	Lebanon	34.30
17	Latvia	33.90
18	Tuvalu	33.70
19	Bangladesh	32.90
20	Greece	32.80
21	Slovakia	32.40
22	Hungary	32.20
23	Montenegro	32.00
24	Georgia	31.80
25	Lithuania	31.40
26	Tonga	31.30
27	Türkiye	30.50
28	Belarus	30.10
29	Romania	30.00
30	Czechia	29.90
31	Marshall Islands	29.80
32	Moldova	29.70
33	Mongolia	29.50
34	Russia	29.20
35	Chile	28.70
36	Spain	28.40
37	Estonia	28.30
37	Nepal	28.30
39	Fiji	27.60
40	Kyrgyzstan	27.30
41	Laos	27.20
42	Madagascar	26.80
43	Belgium	26.70
44	Maldives	26.30
45	Portugal	25.60
46	Switzerland	25.50
47	Armenia	24.90
47	Austria	24.90
47	Ukraine	24.90
50	Egypt	24.70
50	Malta	24.70
52	India	24.30
52	Lesotho	24.30
52	United States	24.30
55	Argentina	23.80
56	Poland	23.60
57	China	23.40
58	Luxembourg	23.00
59	Afghanistan	22.70
59	Sweden	22.70
61	Samoa	22.50
61	Vietnam	22.50
63	Italy	22.40
64	Finland	22.30
65	Kazakhstan	22.20
66	Malaysia	22.00
67	Albania	21.90
68	Yemen	21.40
69	Germany	21.30
69	Netherlands	21.30
71	Algeria	21.20
72	Mauritius	20.90
73	South Africa	20.70
74	Tunisia	20.50
74	Uruguay	20.50
76	Israel	20.40
76	Philippines	20.40
78	Seychelles	20.20
79	Slovenia	20.10
80	South Korea	20.00
81	Kuwait	19.90
82	Azerbaijan	19.60
83	Sri Lanka	19.50
84	Ireland	19.30
85	Iraq	19.20
85	Japan	19.20
85	Thailand	19.20
88	Pakistan	18.90
89	Bhutan	18.70
89	Botswana	18.70
91	Cuba	17.40
92	Palau	17.30
93	Cambodia	17.20
93	Comoros	17.20
95	Uzbekistan	16.70
96	North Korea	16.50
97	Brunei	16.40
97	Singapore	16.40
99	Denmark	16.20
100	Republic of Congo	15.40
101	Bahrain	15.00
102	Mexico	14.90
102	Saudi Arabia	14.90
104	Zambia	14.60
105	Burkina Faso	14.30
105	Rwanda	14.30
107	Norway	14.20
107	United Kingdom	14.20
109	Namibia	14.10
110	Saint Lucia	13.80
111	Iran	13.30
112	Australia	13.10
113	Morocco	13.00
114	Sierra Leone	12.90
115	Qatar	12.50
116	Bolivia	12.40
117	Honduras	12.30
118	Brazil	12.20
118	DR Congo	12.20
118	New Zealand	12.20
121	Canada	12.00
122	Guatemala	11.90
123	Bahamas	11.30
123	Zimbabwe	11.30
125	Burundi	11.20
126	Guyana	11.10
127	Cabo Verde	11.00
128	Kenya	10.70
128	Paraguay	10.70
130	Dominican Republic	10.50
130	Gambia	10.50
132	Ecuador	10.20
133	Jamaica	9.70
133	Malawi	9.70
135	Eswatini	9.50
135	Mauritania	9.50
137	Iceland	9.40
138	Tanzania	9.30
139	United Arab Emirates	9.00
140	Costa Rica	8.90
140	El Salvador	8.90
142	Belize	8.80
142	Côte d'Ivoire	8.80
144	Oman	8.40
145	Colombia	8.20
145	Guinea-Bissau	8.20
145	Liberia	8.20
148	Haiti	8.10
149	Mali	8.00
150	Sao Tome and Principe	7.80
151	Niger	7.70
152	Uganda	7.50
153	Chad	7.40
154	Peru	7.10
155	Barbados	7.00
156	Cameroon	6.50
156	Senegal	6.50
158	Togo	6.40
159	Benin	6.30
160	Turkmenistan	5.60
161	Ethiopia	5.20
161	Panama	5.20
163	Ghana	3.40
164	Nigeria	3.30

Analysis

This metric measures the percentage of the population ages 15 years and over who currently use any tobacco product (smoked and/or smokeless tobacco) on a daily or non-daily basis. Tobacco products include cigarettes, pipes, cigars, cigarillos, waterpipes (hookah, shisha), bidis, kretek, heated tobacco products, and all forms of smokeless (oral and nasal) tobacco. Tobacco products exclude e-cigarettes (which do not contain tobacco). Values are expressed as a percentage of adults. The dataset covers 164 countries with data from 2022, all drawn from official sources, giving it 100% official data quality. The range runs from 3.3% to 48.3%, a spread of 1,363.6%. Ten extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. This is a meaningful metric for assessing adult tobacco exposure at the population level across a broad, comparable cross-national dataset.

The highest tobacco use rates are concentrated in Pacific Island nations and Southeast Asia, alongside several European countries. Nauru leads at 48.3% (Rank 1), followed by Myanmar at 44.4% (Rank 2), Kiribati at 39.7% (Rank 3), and Papua New Guinea at 39.6% (Rank 4). European nations feature prominently in the top tier: Bulgaria and Serbia both sit at 39.5% (Rank 5), Croatia at 37.0% (Rank 9), Bosnia and Herzegovina at 36.2% (Rank 12), and France at 34.6% (Rank 15). Indonesia ranks 8th at 38.2%, reflecting high smokeless and smoked tobacco use across a large adult population. These high-ranking countries share elevated rates across both smoked and smokeless tobacco categories, which the indicator captures in combination.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable diversity. The United States places at Rank 52 with 24.3%, the same value as India and Lesotho at that rank. China sits at Rank 57 with 23.4%, while Japan ranks 85th at 19.2%. Several high-income countries appear lower than might be expected: the United Kingdom ranks 107th at 14.2%, Australia ranks 112th at 13.1%, and Canada ranks 121st at 12.0%. At the lower end, sub-Saharan African countries dominate, with Ghana at Rank 163 and 3.4% and Nigeria at Rank 164 and 3.3%. Iceland, despite its Nordic profile, ranks 137th at 9.4%, placing it well below several lower-income peers.

Several limitations affect interpretation of this metric. The indicator combines smoked and smokeless tobacco into a single prevalence figure, which means countries with high smokeless tobacco use and low smoking rates are treated identically to those with the reverse pattern. Self-reported survey data, which underlies many national estimates, may undercount socially stigmatized behaviors in certain contexts. Comparability across countries can be affected by differences in survey methodologies, age group definitions, and the frequency of data collection. E-cigarettes are explicitly excluded from this indicator, which may cause underestimation of total nicotine or tobacco-related product use in countries where e-cigarettes are prevalent. All 164 data points are from 2022, providing a consistent cross-sectional snapshot, but the dataset does not capture within-year changes or long-term trends in isolation.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SH.PRV.SMOK, with a reference year of 2022. The metric measures the percentage of the population ages 15 years and over who currently use any tobacco product (smoked and/or smokeless tobacco) on a daily or non-daily basis. Tobacco products include cigarettes, pipes, cigars, cigarillos, waterpipes (hookah, shisha), bidis, kretek, heated tobacco products, and all forms of smokeless (oral and nasal) tobacco. Tobacco products exclude e-cigarettes (which do not contain tobacco). The dataset covers 164 countries, all with data from the reference year (100% recency within the last 7 years) and 100% rated as official data quality. The value range is 3.3% to 48.3%, a spread of 1,363.6%. Ten extreme outliers were flagged at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 6.4%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. No microstates (population under 1 million) are present in this dataset. The unit is percentage of adults.

Sources

World Bank