Are fewer adults using tobacco worldwide?
As of 2022, tobacco use among adults is 20.9%: −11.8 pts since 2000.
Why it changed
Two things are true at once: higher tobacco taxes, advertising bans, and pack warning labels under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control cut the share of adults who use tobacco from 32.7% in 2000 to 20.9% in 2022. And roughly one in five adults, about 1.2 billion people (WHO, 2024), still use tobacco, and it kills more than 7 million of them every year.
Source · Our World in Data (WHO/UN SDG Indicators Database) CC-BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); underlying data: WHO/UN SDG Indicators Database Last reviewed 2026-07-07
See one like this every morning.
Progress Tab replaces your new tab with one sourced number about the world. You guess first, then see the real number.
Add to Chrome Free · no account · opens on every new tabAlso available for Firefox →Common questions
What is the source for this number?
Our World in Data (WHO/UN SDG Indicators Database). Last reviewed 2026-07-07 — CC-BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); underlying data: WHO/UN SDG Indicators Database.
How has this changed since 2000?
−11.8 pts since 2000. As of 2022, tobacco use among adults stands at 20.9%.
What still isn’t solved?
Roughly one in five adults, about 1.2 billion people (WHO, 2024), still use tobacco, and it kills more than 7 million of them every year.