Top 100 Countries by Adult Smoking Prevalence (%), 2025
This ranking compares countries by the WHO modelled, age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among adults (15+, total population). While “smoking prevalence” is often used as shorthand, the WHO series here tracks current tobacco use (covering smoked and smokeless forms, depending on country survey inputs and harmonization). Values are expressed as a percentage of the adult population.
Methodology (how the ranking is built)
Data source: WHO Global Health Observatory / WHO Data Portal (indicator: age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use, 15+). Ranking rule: countries are sorted from highest to lowest prevalence for the year 2025, using the “TOTAL” series.
What is measured: the share of adults who currently use tobacco (age-standardized), expressed as a percentage. Why age-standardized: it improves cross-country comparability by adjusting for differences in population age structures.
Limits: estimates are modelled from national surveys and may carry uncertainty; tobacco-use definitions and survey frequency vary by country; “smoking” and “tobacco use” can differ where smokeless tobacco is common.
In Block 3, the “smoking vs life expectancy” relationship is computed on the latest year where both WHO series overlap (2021).
Top 20 countries (bar chart)
The chart highlights the concentration at the very top: several small island states and a number of European and MENA countries appear among the highest prevalence levels in the 2025 WHO estimates.
- 1. Nauru46.7%
- 2. Myanmar42.3%
- 3. Serbia39.0%
- 4. Bulgaria38.8%
- 5. Indonesia38.7%
- 6. Papua New Guinea38.1%
- 7. Croatia37.6%
- 8. Timor-Leste37.2%
- 9. Kiribati36.8%
- 10. Andorra36.4%
- 11. Jordan36.3%
- 12. Solomon Islands36.1%
- 13. Bosnia and Herzegovina35.2%
- 14. Cyprus35.0%
- 15. France34.6%
- 16. Lebanon34.1%
- 17. Slovakia32.8%
- 18. Latvia32.6%
- 19. Tuvalu32.2%
- 20. Georgia31.6%
Values shown are WHO modelled estimates for 2025, age-standardized, total population 15+.
Video: Top 100 Countries by Tobacco Use (2025)
Full ranking: Top 100 countries (2025)
Sorted from highest to lowest prevalence. Values are WHO modelled estimates for 2025 (age-standardized, total adults 15+).
| Rank | Country | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nauru | 46.7% |
| 2 | Myanmar | 42.3% |
| 3 | Serbia | 39.0% |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 38.8% |
| 5 | Indonesia | 38.7% |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea | 38.1% |
| 7 | Croatia | 37.6% |
| 8 | Timor-Leste | 37.2% |
| 9 | Kiribati | 36.8% |
| 10 | Andorra | 36.4% |
| 11 | Jordan | 36.3% |
| 12 | Solomon Islands | 36.1% |
| 13 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35.2% |
| 14 | Cyprus | 35.0% |
| 15 | France | 34.6% |
| 16 | Lebanon | 34.1% |
| 17 | Slovakia | 32.8% |
| 18 | Latvia | 32.6% |
| 19 | Tuvalu | 32.2% |
| 20 | Georgia | 31.6% |
| 21 | Belarus | 31.4% |
| 22 | Montenegro | 31.2% |
| 23 | Tonga | 31.0% |
| 24 | Romania | 30.8% |
| 25 | Türkiye | 30.8% |
| 26 | Czechia | 30.6% |
| 27 | Russian Federation | 30.5% |
| 28 | Estonia | 30.2% |
| 29 | Lithuania | 29.9% |
| 30 | Mongolia | 29.8% |
| 31 | Republic of Moldova | 29.6% |
| 32 | Chile | 29.6% |
| 33 | Nepal | 29.3% |
| 34 | Spain | 29.0% |
| 35 | Greece | 28.7% |
| 36 | Finland | 28.0% |
| 37 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 27.9% |
| 38 | Kyrgyzstan | 27.6% |
| 39 | Belgium | 27.2% |
| 40 | Madagascar | 27.0% |
| 41 | Maldives | 26.9% |
| 42 | Portugal | 26.0% |
| 43 | Austria | 26.0% |
| 44 | Switzerland | 25.8% |
| 45 | Armenia | 25.7% |
| 46 | Ukraine | 25.6% |
| 47 | India | 25.4% |
| 48 | Malta | 25.3% |
| 49 | Sweden | 25.1% |
| 50 | Poland | 24.9% |
| 51 | Egypt | 24.8% |
| 52 | Hungary | 24.7% |
| 53 | Lesotho | 24.5% |
| 54 | Argentina | 24.5% |
| 55 | Cabo Verde | 24.2% |
| 56 | China | 24.1% |
| 57 | Samoa | 23.8% |
| 58 | Luxembourg | 23.5% |
| 59 | Cambodia | 23.4% |
| 60 | Afghanistan | 23.3% |
| 61 | France (metropolitan series already listed above) | — |
| 61 | Qatar | 23.1% |
| 62 | Italy | 23.1% |
| 63 | Viet Nam | 23.0% |
| 64 | Kazakhstan | 22.9% |
| 65 | Albania | 22.7% |
| 66 | Finland (total series already listed above) | — |
| 66 | Malaysia | 22.7% |
| 67 | Netherlands (Kingdom of the) | 22.6% |
| 68 | Japan | 22.6% |
| 69 | Germany | 22.5% |
| 70 | Algeria | 22.3% |
| 71 | Congo | 22.3% |
| 72 | South Africa | 22.1% |
| 73 | Uruguay | 22.0% |
| 74 | Slovenia | 21.9% |
| 75 | Ireland | 21.8% |
| 76 | Israel | 21.7% |
| 77 | Yemen | 21.7% |
| 78 | United States of America | 21.6% |
| 79 | Tunisia | 21.5% |
| 80 | Norway | 21.4% |
| 81 | Republic of Korea | 21.4% |
| 82 | Philippines | 21.1% |
| 83 | Denmark | 21.1% |
| 84 | Australia | 21.0% |
| 85 | Thailand | 20.9% |
| 86 | Azerbaijan | 20.7% |
| 87 | Iraq | 20.6% |
| 88 | Kuwait | 20.4% |
| 89 | Costa Rica | 20.3% |
| 90 | Côte d'Ivoire | 20.0% |
| 91 | Pakistan | 17.2% |
| 92 | Palau | 16.6% |
| 93 | Brunei Darussalam | 16.4% |
| 94 | Congo | 16.3% |
| 95 | Singapore | 16.2% |
| 96 | Uzbekistan | 15.8% |
| 97 | Cuba | 15.7% |
| 98 | Comoros | 15.5% |
| 99 | Democratic People's Republic of Korea | 15.4% |
| 100 | Cambodia | 15.3% |
Adult Tobacco Use Prevalence by Country 2025: Top 100 WHO Ranking
Data checked: May 4, 2026. This ranking uses the WHO Global Health Observatory / WHO Data Portal indicator for age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among people aged 15 years and older. Values are WHO modelled estimates for 2025, shown as a percentage of the adult population.
“Smoking prevalence” is often used as a common shorthand, but the measured WHO indicator is broader: current tobacco use, which can include smoked and smokeless tobacco depending on the country survey inputs and WHO harmonization.
Nauru ranks first in the 2025 WHO adult tobacco-use prevalence ranking, at 46.7% of adults aged 15+. Myanmar ranks second at 42.3%, followed by Serbia at 39.0%, Bulgaria at 38.8% and Indonesia at 38.7%.
Tobacco-use prevalence is a core public-health indicator because it is linked to long-term risks from cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer and premature mortality. The ranking is age-standardized so that countries with different age structures can be compared more fairly.
Methodology
Data source: WHO Global Health Observatory / WHO Data Portal (indicator: age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use, 15+). Ranking rule: countries are sorted from highest to lowest prevalence for the year 2025, using the “TOTAL” series.
What is measured: the share of adults who currently use tobacco (age-standardized), expressed as a percentage. Why age-standardized: it improves cross-country comparability by adjusting for differences in population age structures.
Limits: estimates are modelled from national surveys and may carry uncertainty; tobacco-use definitions and survey frequency vary by country; “smoking” and “tobacco use” can differ where smokeless tobacco is common.
The “smoking vs life expectancy” chart below uses 2021 because that is the latest overlapping year in the two WHO series used for that comparison.
Top 20 countries by adult tobacco-use prevalence
The chart highlights the concentration at the very top: several small island states and a number of European and MENA countries appear among the highest prevalence levels in the 2025 WHO estimates.
- 1. Nauru46.7%
- 2. Myanmar42.3%
- 3. Serbia39.0%
- 4. Bulgaria38.8%
- 5. Indonesia38.7%
- 6. Papua New Guinea38.1%
- 7. Croatia37.6%
- 8. Timor-Leste37.2%
- 9. Kiribati36.8%
- 10. Andorra36.4%
- 11. Jordan36.3%
- 12. Solomon Islands36.1%
- 13. Bosnia and Herzegovina35.2%
- 14. Cyprus35.0%
- 15. France34.6%
- 16. Lebanon34.1%
- 17. Slovakia32.8%
- 18. Latvia32.6%
- 19. Tuvalu32.2%
- 20. Georgia31.6%
Values shown are WHO modelled estimates for 2025, age-standardized, total population 15+.
Top 100 Countries by Tobacco Use, 2025: Video Overview
Full ranking: Top 100 countries by adult tobacco-use prevalence, 2025
Source and date: WHO Global Health Observatory / WHO Data Portal, age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among adults aged 15+. Data checked: May 4, 2026.
Method: countries are sorted from highest to lowest 2025 WHO modelled estimate for the total adult population. Values are percentages and are shown to one decimal place.
Interpretation: this is current tobacco use, not only cigarette smoking. Age-standardization improves cross-country comparability, while modelled estimates remain subject to uncertainty where national survey coverage is limited.
| Rank | Country | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nauru | 46.7% |
| 2 | Myanmar | 42.3% |
| 3 | Serbia | 39.0% |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 38.8% |
| 5 | Indonesia | 38.7% |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea | 38.1% |
| 7 | Croatia | 37.6% |
| 8 | Timor-Leste | 37.2% |
| 9 | Kiribati | 36.8% |
| 10 | Andorra | 36.4% |
| 11 | Jordan | 36.3% |
| 12 | Solomon Islands | 36.1% |
| 13 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 35.2% |
| 14 | Cyprus | 35.0% |
| 15 | France | 34.6% |
| 16 | Lebanon | 34.1% |
| 17 | Slovakia | 32.8% |
| 18 | Latvia | 32.6% |
| 19 | Tuvalu | 32.2% |
| 20 | Georgia | 31.6% |
| 21 | Belarus | 31.4% |
| 22 | Montenegro | 31.2% |
| 23 | Tonga | 31.0% |
| 24 | Romania | 30.8% |
| 25 | Türkiye | 30.8% |
| 26 | Czechia | 30.6% |
| 27 | Russian Federation | 30.5% |
| 28 | Estonia | 30.2% |
| 29 | Lithuania | 29.9% |
| 30 | Mongolia | 29.8% |
| 31 | Republic of Moldova | 29.6% |
| 32 | Chile | 29.6% |
| 33 | Nepal | 29.3% |
| 34 | Spain | 29.0% |
| 35 | Greece | 28.7% |
| 36 | Finland | 28.0% |
| 37 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 27.9% |
| 38 | Kyrgyzstan | 27.6% |
| 39 | Belgium | 27.2% |
| 40 | Madagascar | 27.0% |
| 41 | Maldives | 26.9% |
| 42 | Portugal | 26.0% |
| 43 | Austria | 26.0% |
| 44 | Switzerland | 25.8% |
| 45 | Armenia | 25.7% |
| 46 | Ukraine | 25.6% |
| 47 | India | 25.4% |
| 48 | Malta | 25.3% |
| 49 | Sweden | 25.1% |
| 50 | Poland | 24.9% |
| 51 | Egypt | 24.8% |
| 52 | Hungary | 24.7% |
| 53 | Lesotho | 24.5% |
| 54 | Argentina | 24.5% |
| 55 | Cabo Verde | 24.2% |
| 56 | China | 24.1% |
| 57 | Samoa | 23.8% |
| 58 | Luxembourg | 23.5% |
| 59 | Cambodia | 23.4% |
| 60 | Afghanistan | 23.3% |
| 61 | Qatar | 23.1% |
| 62 | Italy | 23.1% |
| 63 | Viet Nam | 23.0% |
| 64 | Kazakhstan | 22.9% |
| 65 | Albania | 22.7% |
| 66 | Malaysia | 22.7% |
| 67 | Netherlands (Kingdom of the) | 22.6% |
| 68 | Japan | 22.6% |
| 69 | Germany | 22.5% |
| 70 | Algeria | 22.3% |
| 71 | Congo | 22.3% |
| 72 | South Africa | 22.1% |
| 73 | Uruguay | 22.0% |
| 74 | Slovenia | 21.9% |
| 75 | Ireland | 21.8% |
| 76 | Israel | 21.7% |
| 77 | Yemen | 21.7% |
| 78 | United States of America | 21.6% |
| 79 | Tunisia | 21.5% |
| 80 | Norway | 21.4% |
| 81 | Republic of Korea | 21.4% |
| 82 | Philippines | 21.1% |
| 83 | Denmark | 21.1% |
| 84 | Australia | 21.0% |
| 85 | Thailand | 20.9% |
| 86 | Azerbaijan | 20.7% |
| 87 | Iraq | 20.6% |
| 88 | Kuwait | 20.4% |
| 89 | Costa Rica | 20.3% |
| 90 | Côte d'Ivoire | 20.0% |
| 91 | Pakistan | 17.2% |
| 92 | Palau | 16.6% |
| 93 | Brunei Darussalam | 16.4% |
| 94 | Congo | 16.3% |
| 95 | Singapore | 16.2% |
| 96 | Uzbekistan | 15.8% |
| 97 | Cuba | 15.7% |
| 98 | Comoros | 15.5% |
| 99 | Democratic People's Republic of Korea | 15.4% |
| 100 | Cambodia | 15.3% |
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory / WHO Data Portal. Values are 2025 WHO modelled estimates for age-standardized current tobacco use among adults aged 15+, total population, shown as percent of adults. Data checked: May 4, 2026.
Smoking (tobacco use) vs life expectancy
This scatter plot relates WHO tobacco-use prevalence (%) to WHO life expectancy at birth (years). To avoid mismatched time coverage, it uses the latest common year available in both WHO series: 2021.
- Myanmar45.1% • 67.85 yrs
- Kiribati40.7% • 60.87 yrs
- Papua New Guinea40.2% • 65.49 yrs
- Serbia39.9% • 72.81 yrs
- Bulgaria39.8% • 71.31 yrs
- Timor-Leste39.3% • 68.00 yrs
- Indonesia37.9% • 68.26 yrs
- Solomon Islands37.1% • 64.79 yrs
- Croatia36.8% • 76.86 yrs
- Bosnia and Herzegovina36.4% • 74.85 yrs
- Cyprus35.8% • 81.91 yrs
- Jordan35.3% • 75.65 yrs
In the 2021 WHO cross-country sample used here (n = 158), the simple linear association is positive but weak: r ≈ 0.25, with an estimated slope of about +0.18 years of life expectancy per +1 percentage point in tobacco-use prevalence.
This is not a causal estimate. Cross-country life expectancy is strongly shaped by income, health systems, injury burden, and infectious disease profiles; tobacco prevalence can be high in some contexts where life expectancy remains high due to other protective factors.
Insights
The top of the 2025 prevalence ranking mixes two realities. In some small island states, prevalence can remain elevated due to long-lived consumption patterns and limited cessation infrastructure. In parts of Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, high prevalence can persist even with stronger health systems, reflecting slower declines in adult cohorts and entrenched norms.
Another important point is the difference between “smoking” and “tobacco use.” Countries with meaningful smokeless tobacco consumption can show high total tobacco prevalence even if cigarette smoking is comparatively lower. Product mix matters.
Because the WHO series is age-standardized, higher values are not simply a reflection of older populations. Age-standardization improves comparability by adjusting for differences in age structure.
What this means for readers
- Health impact: higher prevalence implies larger long-term burden from cardiovascular disease, COPD, and several cancers.
- Policy levers: sustained declines are usually linked to taxation, smoke-free laws, ad bans, and accessible cessation support.
- How to compare: prevalence is a population share, not intensity (cigarettes per user) or second-hand exposure.
FAQ
Which country has the highest adult tobacco-use prevalence in 2025?
Nauru ranks first in the WHO 2025 modelled estimates, with age-standardized current tobacco-use prevalence of 46.7% among adults aged 15 and older.
What does the WHO tobacco-use indicator measure?
It measures the age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among people aged 15 years and older, expressed as a percentage of adults. The measure can include smoked and smokeless tobacco depending on country data and WHO harmonization.
Is this strictly “smoking prevalence”?
The WHO series used here is “current tobacco use” (age-standardized, 15+, total). In many countries it is close to smoking prevalence,
but it can differ where smokeless tobacco is common.
Why use age-standardized prevalence?
It improves comparability by adjusting for different age structures.
Why does the scatter use 2021, not 2025?
This comparison uses the latest year where both WHO tobacco-use prevalence and WHO life expectancy series overlap.
Does high prevalence always mean low life expectancy?
Not necessarily in cross-country comparisons. Many factors drive life expectancy; tobacco is important, but not the only driver.
Primary sources
Official WHO resources used for the ranking and interpretation.
WHO Data / Global Health Observatory (GHO): Tobacco use
Indicator pages and datasets for age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use (15+).
WHO GHO indicator: Life expectancy at birth
Official WHO indicator definition and time series used for the “smoking vs life expectancy” comparison.
WHO fact sheet: Tobacco
Core health implications and burden context from WHO (overview-level reference).
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)
Global treaty framework that underpins many national tobacco-control policies.
