How Many Latin Americans Smoke?

When I first arrived to Mexico City over 5 years ago, I remember having the impression that quite a few people smoke in this city.

At least compared to small town Iowa.

Perhaps it was more impressionable because of specifically all of the women I saw smoking.

While I don't care if a woman smokes or not if I'm just looking to fuck her, I couldn't date a woman who smoked in a serious relationship.

Nothing against smoking personally.

In fact, I actually like the smell of smoke.

Not sure why but I always guessed it is because my dad smoked all the time.

When we would drive around, he'd smoke in the vehicle and obviously I'd smell it enough times and got used to the smell.

For whatever reason, the smell of smoke is pleasant to me.

But I couldn't date a woman who smoked.

For one, I don't want a wife who will die of lung cancer in whatever amount of years it takes.

But, more importantly, I just see a woman who smokes as someone who isn't very feminine.

It's like a woman who wears a leather jacket.

Just an odd look to a woman that I find unattractive.

Seems more trashy actually.

I remember an old girlfriend asked me about my thoughts on her wearing one and that's what I said too.

She never got around to wearing or buying one.

Thankfully, she never inquired about smoking because, going back to that topic, it's the same to me.

And I don't smoke either (despite liking the smell of it funny enough).

Though I was trolling my mom recently as you can see here about it.

Above all though, you do sometimes get the impression down here that seemingly more people smoke here than back home.

Though it depends also on what part of Latin America if we were to think about the rest of Latin America.

I don't remember the amount of people smoking being an impression of mine in most of the region.

In Buenos Aires, I remember thinking that.

But not in most of Latin America.

Still, it is a question, isn't it?

How many Latin Americans smoke?

Is it really more common down here?

There is a part of me that suspects that smoking is, at the very least, cheaper down here.

Well, cheaper if you earn USD perhaps.

Maybe not as cheap to the local making 300 USD a month.

But it always seemed that way whenever you hear about cigarette costs in the US being some crazy shit like 10 dollars or whatever.

Given I don't smoke, I can't truly compare the costs of one country down here (like Mexico or Colombia) to the US but that was always a theory of mine that it probably is more affordable than back home.

Probably less politicians looking to less aggressively tax cigarettes and make them more expensive.

Though, like with many things, it wouldn't surprise me if that made its way down here also someday.

Above all though, let's get to that question in mind: How many people smoke in Latin America?

Putting aside my personal observations, what do the numbers say?

I'll try to find numbers for every Latin American country down here but no promises.

I'm not spending 5 hours digging through every article I can find but I'll do my best in a quick 30 minute research for the 5 of you who are curious.

If I had to guess also, I'd imagine less younger people smoke here than older ones like in the US and more vape too (at least in Mexico City. Vaping in Potosi of Bolivia? Not sure).

Let's get to it anyhow. 

How Many People Smoke in the US?

For the US so we have something to compare it all to, I found this bit here:

"In 2020, nearly 13 of every 100 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older (12.5%) currently* smoked cigarettes. This means an estimated 30.8 million adults in the United States currently smoke cigarettes.2 More than 16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease."

How Many People Smoke in Mexico?

For Mexico, we have this source here:

"14.9 millones de personas entre los 12 y 65 años de edad, actualmente son fumadoras;1 la prevalencia por sexo es de 27.1% en hombres y 8.7% en mujeres. 6.4% de la población encuestada reportó fumar diario, cifra que es de 10% para los hombres y 3.1% para las mujeres."

How Many People Smoke in Guatemala?

Couldn't find anything for Guatemala. It's a mystery and will remain as such until the end of time.

How Many People Smoke in El Salvador?

For El Salvador, we have this source here:

"Según datos presentados en el evento, 1 de cada 10 adultos fuma en El Salvador; la prevalencia del consumo actual de cigarrillos es del 17 % en los hombres, el 2 % en las mujeres y el 10 % en los jóvenes"

How Many People Smoke in Honduras?

For Honduras, we have this source here:

"Según fuentes contra el tabaquismo, en Honduras, país con 9,5 millones de habitantes, entre el 30 % y el 40 % son fumadores, y de ellos el 22 % son hombres y el 18 % mujeres."

How Many People Smoke in Nicaragua?

Couldn't find anything for Nicaragua. It's a mystery and will remain as such until the end of time.

How Many People Smoke in Costa Rica?

For Costa Rica, we have this source here:

"Inicio de tabaquismo es en promedio de edad 16.5 años en hombres y 17.4 años en mujeres. Se estima que 434 mil personas fuman activamente en CR (297 mil hombres/137 mil mujeres)."

How Many People Smoke in Panama?

For Panama, we have this source here:

"Entre los menos fumadores está Panamá, con solo un 6% de tasa de tabaquismo. De cerca le sigue Ecuador, con un 7% de su población fumadora. Y más atrás Colombia, con una tasa del 9%."

How Many People Smoke in Dominican Republic?

For the Dominican Republic, we have this source here:

"El valor de Prevalencia del hábito de fumar, varones (% de adultos) en República Dominicana fue 14.60 en 2020. Como el siguiente gráfico muestra, durante los últimos 20 años este indicador ha alcanzado un valor máximo de 21.10 en 2000 y un valor mínimo de 14.60 en 2020."

How Many People Smoke in Puerto Rico?

For Puerto Rico, we have this source here:

"En Puerto Rico, aproximadamente 1 de cada 10 adultos fuman (9.6%)."

How Many People Smoke in Cuba?

Couldn't find anything for Cuba. It's a mystery and will remain as such until the end of time.

How Many People Smoke in Belize?

For Belize, we have this source here:

"Belize smoking rate for 2020 was 8.50%, a 0.3% decline from 2019. Belize smoking rate for 2019 was 8.80%, a 0% increase from 2018. Belize smoking rate for 2018 was 8.80%, a 0.9% decline from 2015. Belize smoking rate for 2015 was 9.70%, a 1.6% decline from 2010."

How Many People Smoke in Colombia?

For Colombia, we have this source here:

"En Colombia hay 5 millones de fumadores activos."

How Many People Smoke in Venezuela?

For Caracas of Venezuela, we have this source here:

"De acuerdo con los re- sultados de la encuesta, fumaba el 48,3 % de la población masculina de Caracas y había dejado de fumar el 4,7%. Para las mujeres, los porcentajes respectivos fueron 26,1 y 2,6 % , o sea, que fumaba el 36,4 % de ambos sexos y había abandonado el hábito el 3,4 %."

How Many People Smoke in Peru?

For Peru, we have this source here:

"La Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) y la Comisión Nacional de Lucha Antitabáquica (COLAT), revelan que en el Perú, la prevalencia de fumadores actuales es 27%, y 40% de la población peruana se expone involuntariamente al humo del tabaco 11."

How Many People Smoke in Ecuador?

For Ecuador, we have this source here:

"1 de cada 10 ecuatorianos, de 18 a 69 años consumen tabaco, mientras que 3 de cada 10 adolescentes, entre 13 y 15 años lo han probado alguna vez en su vida."

How Many People Smoke in Bolivia?

For Bolivia, we have this source here:

"En Bolivia, se estima que el 16 al 18% de las mujeres y el 20% de los hombres son fumadores."

How Many People Smoke in Chile?

For Chile, we have this source here:

"Otras estadísticas, como las obtenidas a través de la última Encuesta Nacional de Salud3 muestran que 40,6% de la población adulta fuma de manera habitual (44,2% la prevalencia de hombres y 37,1% la de mujeres)."

How Many People Smoke in Argentina?

For Argentina, we have this source here:

"Epidemia de tabaquismo: en Argentina, hay 9 millones de fumadores.

How Many People Smoke in Paraguay?

For Paraguay, we have this source here:

"Ricardo Torres, Representante de la OPS/OMS en Paraguay. La Encuesta Nacional de Factores de Riesgo realizada por el Ministerio de Salud Pública señala que la prevalencia de tabaquismo a nivel país es de 14,5%; de cada 100 personas, 14 son fumadores."

How Many People Smoke in Uruguay?

For Uruguay, we have this source here:

"La cantidad de fumadores en Uruguay pasó de representar 25 % de la población en 2009 a 21,6 % en 2017 | Uruguay Presidencia."

How Many People Smoke in Brazil?

For Brazil, we have this source here:

"Los últimos datos, de 2017, muestran que la proporción de fumadores en Brasil era del 10% en la población superior a 18 años, lo que equivale a 15 o 16 millones de personas”, afirmó Tânia en una entrevista con Agência Brasil en el Día Mundial sin Tabaco, celebrado hoy (31)."

Anything to Add?

There you go!

That's what I could find in 30 minutes.

If you got anything to add, drop a comment below.

And follow my Twitter here.

Thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Matt