Trends in the Americas: Of all WHO regions, the steepest decline in prevalence rates over time is seen in the Americas Region. The average rate of tobacco use has gone from 21% in 2010 down to 16% in 2020.
WHO’s African Region trend: this region has the lowest average rate of tobacco use at 10% in 2020, down from 15% in 2010.
WHO’s European Region trend: in Europe 18% of women still use tobacco – substantially more than in any other region. Women in Europe are the slowest in the world to cut tobacco use. All other WHO regions are on track to reduce tobacco use rates among women by at least 30% by 2025.
WHO’s Eastern-Mediterranean Region trend: Pakistan is the only country in this region that’s on track to reach the tobacco reduction target. Four of the six countries in the world where tobacco use is increasing are in this region.
WHO’s South East Asian Region trend: The region currently has the highest rates of tobacco use, with around 432 million users, or 29% of its population. But this is also the region where tobacco use is declining fastest. The region is likely to reach tobacco use rates similar to the European Region and the Western Pacific Region by 2025.
WHO’s Western Pacific Region trend: This is projected to become the region with the highest tobacco use rate among men, with more than 45% of men still using tobacco in 2025.
Policy action: One in three countries are likely to achieve the 30% reduction target, and low-income countries are currently achieving the most progress against tobacco. Upper middle-income countries are, on average, making the slowest progress in reducing tobacco use. In some 29 countries, data quality is low or insufficient to know the trend, so more monitoring is needed.
Source: Jordan News Agency