Researchers say tobacco linked to about one in eight deaths worldwide and numbers rising sharply in some countries
Exposure to tobacco killed more than 7 million people worldwide in 2023, according to estimates.
It remains the leading risk factor for deaths in men, among whom there were 5.59m deaths, and ranks seventh for women, among whom there were 1.77m deaths.
While the UK has seen a 45% decline in deaths attributed to tobacco since 1990 – including smoking, chewing tobacco and secondhand smoke – the global rate has risen by 24.4%.
The analysis, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, is based on data from the Global Burden of Disease study and was presented at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin on Monday.
