Smoking in China

Abstract

As the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco, China bears a substantial proportion of the global burden of smoking-related disease.¹ Of China's population of 1.2 billion, more than 300 million men and 20 million women are smokers, making China the world's largest actual and potential national market for cigarettes. In 1994 about 1.7 trillion cigarettes were produced in China and about 900 million were imported.² The sales volume has grown steadily since 1981 (Figure 1) when economic reforms were initiated, and current sales of cigarettes are estimated at 1900 cigarettes per adult per year.² More than 1000 brands of cigarettes are available in China with average prices ranging from approximately 5 RMB ($0.63 per pack) in urban locations to 2 RMB ($0.25) in rural areas. Western brands tend to be more costly. The average smoker is estimated to spend about 25% of his/her income on cigarettes.²