Smoking Rates Around the World -- How Do Americans Compare?

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup first asked Americans about their smoking habits more than 60 years ago, and recent Gallup polling finds Americans reporting among the lowest smoking rates ever measured (24%). The percentage of Americans saying they have smoked cigarettes in the past week did not drop to approximately one-quarter of the population until the mid-1990s. Gallup has asked respondents in more than 90 countries around the globe a similar question regarding their smoking habits, and the data indicate a median percentage of 22%. This result is statistically similar to the U.S. rate, but in some individual countries this figure ranges from a fraction of the U.S. responses to more than 40%.

In asking populations around the world about their smoking habits, Gallup phrased the question in a manner that reflects the work of Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and others. This approach seeks to record a subject's feelings and experiences in as close to a real-time setting as possible. In the survey context, respondents are asked about emotions or behaviors (such as smoking) that they experienced within the past 24 hours.

Although U.S. respondents were asked about cigarette smoking within the past week, nearly all of those who say they smoked in that time also indicate they smoke at least one cigarette per day. As a result, the percentages of weekly and daily smokers in the United States are usually roughly equivalent (at most, the daily smoking rate is one percentage point lower than the weekly smoking rate). Thus, the weekly smoking figures from the United States can be considered comparable to the daily smoking rates from other countries around the world.

Gallup found that several countries around the world post smoking rates that are near 40% -- similar to the prevalence measured in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Forty percent of Cubans smoke, as do 37% of Kuwaitis, Chileans, Russians, Belarusians, and Bangladeshis.

Interestingly, the countries with the highest rates of smoking among respondents age 18 and older span the globe, and have annual GDPs (at Purchasing Power Parity) that range from $700 per capita to $23,100. In other words, there appears to be no consistent relationship between the prevalence of smoking in a country and its location or its residents' relative wealth.

At the other end of the spectrum, only 6% of Nigerians, 8% of Salvadorans, and 8% of Ghanaians smoke.

Some patterns emerge among the group of countries with the lowest reported rates of smoking, though this is still a diverse group. These countries are mostly found in Africa and Latin America, and their median per-capita GDP (PPP) is much lower than the median among the countries with the highest smoking rates ($2,700, compared with $9,400). Twenty-two out of the 27 countries in which no more than 15% of respondents report smoking have annual per-capita GDPs (PPP) of $5,000 or less. In contrast, only 6 out of the 21 countries where at least 30% of the population report smoking have per-capita GDPs (PPP) of $5,000 or less.

When Gallup examines results for the worldwide smoking question at the regional level, the lowest median scores are found in South America and Mexico (15%), West Africa (14%), Central America (12%), and South Asia (12%). It should be noted thus far that the smoking behavior question has not been asked in all countries polled by Gallup; as a result, the regional median scores may be altered as additional data are collected.

Interestingly, two of the regions with the lowest median scores are home to individual countries with some of the highest rates -- greater than 30% of the population. In South America, Argentina (33%) and Chile (37%) have smoking rates of one-third the population or greater, yet in most of the other countries in this region the prevalence is 15% or lower. The median figure for the countries polled in South Asia is also very low (12%), although Bangladesh (37%) has one of the highest adult smoking rates in the world.

The regions with the highest median rates of smoking are the former Soviet countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (29%), Central Europe (29%), and the European Union (28%). Although Gallup has not asked this question in many European countries, those countries that have been surveyed report data that are higher than is typical of many other regions around the world.

Survey Methods

Results for the poll reporting U.S. smoking behaviors are based on telephone interviews with 1,012 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Aug. 3-5, 2007. For results based on the total sample of U.S. adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.

Results from the Gallup World Poll are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted throughout 2006. Randomly selected sample sizes typically number 1,000 residents, aged 15 and older, in the 91 countries polled. For results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.