WHO Key Facts in 2022

This is what the World Health Organization has to say:

- Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year. 

- More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

- Over 80% of the world's 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries.

- In 2020, 22.3% of the global population used tobacco, 36.7% of all men and 7.8% of the world’s women.

To address the tobacco epidemic, WHO Member States adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2003. Currently 182 countries have ratified this treaty. Measures in line with the WHO FCTC are in place in some areas. They have been shown to reduce costs from averted healthcare expenditures and to save lives.