Smokers getting younger in Egypt

Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity said yesterday that the age at which people started to smoke had dropped to 10, according to Ahram Online quoting Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website.

It wasn’t clear from the report whether 10 represented an average age or the minimum age at which people were taking up the habit.

Nor was it mentioned what the average/minimum age had fallen from.

Ghada Wali said during an Anti-Addiction Conference that the incidence of cigarette smoking in Egypt had risen by five percentage points since 2009 to 24 percent in 2013.

The minister was quoted as saying that more than 60 percent of smokers were young adults “who have just begun their careers.”

She said the average personal spending on smoking in Egypt amounted to nearly EGP200 ($28) per month.