Study indicates more than one-fifth of adults smoke

A new study titled “Global Statistics on Addictive Behaviours: 2014 Status Report,” which was led by Professor Linda Gowing, of the University of Adelaide in South Australia, estimates that 22.5 percent of adults aged 15 years and older throughout the world smoke tobacco products. The rate use tobacco product use stood at 32 percent for men and 7 percent for women.

Study results showed that eastern Europe had the highest percentage of adults smoking tobacco, at 30.5 percent, followed closely by Oceania at 29.5 percent and Western Europe at 28.5 percent. The lowest rate—13 percent—was observed in Africa and the Caribbean as well as central and northern America. An estimated 11 percent of deaths in males and 6 percent of deaths in females each year are attributed to tobacco use, according to the study.