Tobacco use imposes a significant health and economic burden on countries. Research estimates that the cost of smoking in South Africa amounted to 0.97% of the country’s GDP in 2016. These costs are likely to have increased as a result of the observed rise in smoking prevalence over the past five years.
In 2021, South Africa conducted its first Global Adult Tobacco Survey. This is a nationally representative household survey that monitors tobacco use among adults aged 15 years and older. According to the results, 25.8% of the South African population (11.1 million adults) currently smoke tobacco. This is significantly higher than the 19.9% estimated in the most recent wave of the National Income Dynamics Study that was conducted in 2017. Tobacco use is associated with a myriad of illnesses including cancers.
