73% Of Indonesian Men Smoke…

In 2025, smoking remains a persistent public health concern, with sharp disparities visible not only across countries but also between genders.

The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco use causes over 8 million premature deaths each year. Of these, more than 7 million are due to direct tobacco use, while around 1.3 million non-smokers die from exposure to second-hand smoke.

The graphic below, via Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu, highlights the male and female smoking rates in ten major countries. The data is based on projections compiled by Statista.

Gender Disparities in Global Smoking Rates

The most striking contrast is seen in Indonesia, where nearly three-quarters (72.8%) of men are smokers, while just 1.8% of women partake.

This gender gap is also present in China (44.4% vs. 1.4%) and India (10.9% vs. 0.9%), reflecting cultural norms and targeted marketing practices.

In contrast, countries like France and Germany show much narrower disparities. France stands out with almost equal smoking rates among men (35.2%) and women (34.0%), suggesting a more gender-neutral culture around tobacco use.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Japan fall in the mid-range, with moderate gender gaps and relatively lower overall smoking prevalence compared to Asian and European counterparts.

In Russia, 31.4% of men and 5.7% of women smoke, while in Brazil, smoking rates are lower, with 14.1% of men and 8.1% of women who smoke.

Raw tobacco production is a huge industry. In 2022 alone, around 5.8 million tons of tobacco were produced worldwide, roughly a third of which was in China. Learn more about tobacco production in this graphic on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.