Cigarette consumption and prices in different countries

[Bill Godshall]

Kremlin Cracks Down on Big Tobacco - WSJ.com

[h=1]World Smoking Habits[/h]The Kremlin is the latest government body to get tough on Big tobacco, with a determined push to pass strict antismoking rules that are aimed at taking a big bite out of the industry's growth in the world's second-largest tobacco market: Russia. Compare tobacco consumption by country and the average price per pack of cigarettes. Select the column headers to sort.

Country	Average Number of Cigarettes Smoked Per Capita	Average Price Per Pack
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Argentina	1,042	$1.67
Armenia	1,620	$1.42
Australia	1,034	$12.14
Austria	1,650	$6.20
Belarus	2,266	$1.49
Belgium	1,455	$6.97
Bosnia and Herzegovin	2,278	Unavailable
Brazil	504	$2.93
Bulgaria	2,822	$3.24
Cambodia	452	$1.03
Cameroon	93	$2.03
Canada	809	$10.51
Chad	86	$2.13
Chili	860	$3.80
China	1,711	$2.25
Сroatia	1,621	Unavailable
Сuba	1,261	$1.30
Cyprus	1,620	$6.13
Czech Republic	2,125	$4.33
Denmark	1,413	$6.94
Dominican Republic	234	Unavailable
Egypt	1,104	$1.69
Ethiopia	42	Unavailable
Finland	671	$7.61
Georgia	1,039	Unavailable
Germany	1,045	$6.86
Great Britain	750	$10.99
Greece	2,795	$5.21
Haiti	100	Unavailable
Iceland	477	$8.23
India	96	$2.03
Indonesia	1,085	$1.40
Iran	657	$2.03
Iraq	864	Unavailable
Ireland	1,006	$10.92
Israel	1,037	$5.26
Italy	1,475	$6.48
Jamaica	283	$5.81
Japan	1,841	$5.34
Kazakhstan	1,934	$1.09
Kenya	144	$3.01
Malaysia	539	$3.30
Mexico	371	$2.50
Mongolia	555	$1.18
Mozambique	200	Unavailable
Nepal	420	$1.21
Netherlands	801	$7.12
New Zealand	579	$10.35
Nigeria	116	$1.43
Norway	534	$15.11
Pakistan	468	$1.23
Papua New Guinea	670	$4.86
Philippines	838	Unavailable
Poland	1,586	$3.93
Romania	1,404	$3.79
Russia	2,786	$1.74
Saudi Arabia	809	$1.57
Senegal	398	Unavailable
Serbia	2,861	$2.03
South Africa	459	$4.14
South Korea	1,958	$2.24
Spain	1,757	$5.99
Sri Lanka	195	$0.36
Switzerland	1,722	$8.28
Thailand	560	$2.56
Tunisia	1,628	$2.95
Turkey	1,399	$4.38
Ukraine	2,401	$1.26
United Arab Emirates	583	$1.91
United States	1,028	$6.36
Uruguay	770	$3.61

Sources: World Lung Foundation, American Cancer Society
Note: Consumption from 2009; price per pack from 2008

 

[user808a]

thanks for the stats

 

[Los Marauder]

Realy interesting. Amazing the diference between the cheepest(Sri Lanka $0.36) and highest(Norway $15.11) is a whoping $14.75. Wow

 

[Thorbear]

It's crazy. Seeing this, I can now say that I have NOT bought the most expensive cigarettes in the world for over 3 weeks

 

[Petrodus]

The chart also screams how the sin taxation differs around the world.

 

[Los Marauder]

Bill, this info appears to be from 2008 and 2009. is there anything like this for more recent years. Just think it would be interesting to see any progression on the cigs per capita. Thanks.

 

[Sophora]

I have the impression that the figures are misrepresented. For a true evaluation of the price per pack and amount, the number of cigarettes smoked should be per smoker not per capita. For the Netherlands the listed 801 cigarettes should read 5110 cigarettes per smoker per year
(an average of 14 cigs of ryo per day).

Source: Kerncijfers roken in Nederland 2009 issued by Stivoro

 

[WickedSick]

Probably these figures can be used to point at least some of the cultural differences between countries. Actually scrap that I am sure that someone, somewhere is doing a reasearch on that, it would be really interesteng thing to see.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Los Marauder inquired

Bill, this info appears to be from 2008 and 2009. is there anything like this for more recent years.

Yes, I have more recent data for the 20 countries where cigarette consumption is greatest, and for several others.
Please send me an e-mail to smokefree@compuserve.com if you desire (as I won't post due to copyright).


Sophora wrote:

I have the impression that the figures are misrepresented. For a true evaluation of the price per pack and amount, the number of cigarettes smoked should be per smoker not per capita.

Not so, as per capita consumption is most accurate and reliable measurement for both public health and market indices.

In fact, per capita cigarette consumption is a far more accurate and reliable than the percentage or number of "current smokers", which is defined by CDC (and health departments in most other countries) as smoking even one cigarette in past 30 days.

For example, the most recent NHIS data found that there are 45 million adult smokers in the US (19% of adults), but that 33 million (i.e. 14%) were "daily smokers" and that 12 million (i.e. 5%) were "occassional smokers".

It is critically important for public health to differentiate between daily smokers (who face significant health risks) and occassional smokers (who face negligable increased health risks). Please note that all 440,000 deaths annually attributed to cigarette smoking by the CDC were people who inhaled cigarette smoke daily for many years.

And while 14% of American adults are daily smokers, Obama appointees at CDC and other anti tobacco extremists claims ad nauseum that 19% of Americans are smokers to confuse people into believing the problem is much bigger than it really is as a strategy to lobby for more money for themselves and for many unwarranted tobacco control policies.

 

[Bill Godshall]

This chart above is also helpful for e-cigarette companies to determinine which countries to begin marketing in (i.e. those where cigarettes cost more than $5/pack) and where not to market e-cigarettes (i.e. countries where cigarettes cost less than $2/pack).

This chart also helps explain why significant cigarette tax increases have created markets for e-cigarettes.

 

[gatag]

Guatemala: 2.30$

 

[Bill Godshall]

Here's a followup article tin the Washington Post that includes a map showing different cigarette consumption rates in different countries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...a-surprising-map-of-smoking-rates-by-country/

MY attempts to upload the map here were unsuccessful.

 

[TennDave]

 

[rothenbj]

Curious that Sweden wasn't included in the statistics.

 

[rothenbj]

In fact, per capita cigarette consumption is a far more accurate and reliable than the percentage or number of "current smokers", which is defined by CDC (and health departments in most other countries) as smoking even one cigarette in past 30 days.

Based on the US statistics, I was smoking for somewhere around 20 smokers back in the day. I wonder who picked up the load nearly three years ago.

 

[rolygate]

Sweden is often dropped from these types of maps and charts due to 'political' reasons (i.e. they don't want to show that Sweden is very different from the rest of the EU).

You'll notice that in the above map the colouring for cigarette consumption in Sweden is likely to be wrong (unless Swedish smokers consume two or three times more cigarettes than smokers in next-door countries). It is very convenient to leave out the actual figures, in this circumstance.

I saw one official EU map accompanied by a table of statistics where this was very obvious - they had coloured the map the same for Sweden, Denmark etc, but the table of stats showed that Sweden's figures were about the same as Papua New Guinea or somewhere like that. It's OK to lie on a map as that can be explained away as a printer's error or similar; but a little bit harder to alter the actual figures, as someone would have just cause for action.

 

[BoiseMike]

Is there a map that shows which country doesn't forcibly take people's money to use to try and coerce them into acting how Big Brother wants? Or maybe one that doesn't try and regulate and tax undesirable behavior out of existence to create their version of Utopia where everyone bows to their will? Perhaps one that actually values individual liberty? I may want to move there.

It used to be called the U.S.A. But not anymore.

 

[Petrodus]

Is there a map that shows which country doesn't forcibly take people's money to use to try and coerce them into acting how Big Brother wants? Or maybe one that doesn't try and regulate and tax undesirable behavior out of existence to create their version of Utopia where everyone bows to their will? Perhaps one that actually values individual liberty? I may want to move there.

It used to be called the U.S.A. But not anymore.

 

[lindsayfox]

You need to update this bill,I guess due to inflation and recession the prices must be hiked in some of the countries.

 

[DC2]

Is there a map that shows which country doesn't forcibly take people's money to use to try and coerce them into acting how Big Brother wants? Or maybe one that doesn't try and regulate and tax undesirable behavior out of existence to create their version of Utopia where everyone bows to their will? Perhaps one that actually values individual liberty? I may want to move there.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is, but if there was I would move there too.