About 6.3 million people die each year from illnesses related to smoking tobacco. The tobacco industry made more than $44 billion in 2013. If you do the math, this means that Big Tobacco makes $7,000 for each smoker who dies.
These statistics are courtesy of the World Lung Federation which along with the American Cancer Society has published the Tobacco Atlas, a global look at smoking. The report estimates that a billion people will die from problems related to smoking and exposure to tobacco in this century, assuming that current trends remain as they are.
More than 5.8 trillion cigarettes were smoked in 2014. Although the number of smokers is declining in many countries, it is on the rise in China, the most populous country on earth. Nearly 2,250 cigarettes were smoked for every Chinese man or woman over age 15. The rate of smoking has increased by 50% in China since 1980.
In general, smoking and tobacco use is growing in poorer parts of the world, such as Africa and parts of Asia, but is dropping in the developed and wealthier parts of the globe.
Countries are creating laws to limit advertising of tobacco products or restrict where people can smoke. Despite this, only 10% of people in the world are covered by bans on advertising and marketing, and only 16% are covered by smoke-free legislation.
Smoking tobacco is a major cause of lung cancer, but it also causes many other illnesses including heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. Smoking is known to be linked to 12 types of cancer and nine other conditions. A recent study found several more diseases or conditions that are at least in part due to smoking. These include kidney failure, heart disease due to high blood pressure, infections, inadequate blood circulation in the intestines, various respiratory diseases, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.
