African countries need tighter controls to curb growing tobacco use

By Sam Filby, Research Officer, Research on the Economics of Excisable Products,, University of Cape Town

Average global smoking rates have fallen over the past 12 years with the proportion of people aged 15 or older who smoke declining from 22.6% in 2007 to 19.6% in 2019.

However, tobacco use still poses a significant health, economic and social burden worldwide. In fact, some countries – mostly in Africa – are experiencing increases in smoking prevalence. The latest Tobacco Atlas shows that, globally, 1.13 billion people were current smokers in 2019. And…

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