Cambodia is facing a future epidemic of tobacco related disease and death.

• In Cambodia smoking prevalence among men 20 years and over is 54% (rural men 56%) and women 20 years and over is 6% (2004 Tobacco Survey, National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning).

• Men's smoking prevalence seems to peak among age group of 40+ (40 and above) and 60+ (60 and above). Some older men began smoking during Pol Pot's regime in the late 1970s; because smokers were given 10-minute breaks every hour from hard labour by the Khmer Rouge.

• The average age of smoking initiation is 20 of age for men and 26 year of age for women. About 10% of Cambodians begin to smoke at the age 10-14.

• 75.5% of the population in Cambodia is exposed to Second Hand Smoke. The exposure is higher in urban areas 81% compared to rural areas 74.7% (2004 Tobacco Survey, National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning).

• 80% of Cambodian children under 13 years old live in households with at least one regular smoker in the family. This turns into roughly 3.1 Million of children victims of Second Hand Smoke (2004 tobacco, poverty and socioeconomic status in Cambodia by Lidee Khmer).

• 95% of all people who are exposed to Second Hand Smoke at home would support a ban on smoking in a public place.

• The total tobacco spending for the whole Cambodia is evaluated to US$69,442,961. While rural areas are the most populated region of Cambodia and it also bears the most burden of tobacco spending, as the total tobacco spending in rural region is the highest in Cambodia. This aggravates more the poverty in the rural areas ( 2004 tobacco, poverty and socioeconomic status in Cambodia by Lidee Khmer).

• Tobacco companies are major advertisers, accounting for 13% of all advertising in 2000. In 1997, half of all street advertising was for tobacco products.

• Support for tobacco control is high. A 2004 survey in four provinces and Phnom Penh found about 85.5 % of respondents believed the government should ban cigarette advertisements.

• In 1997, it was estimated that cigarettes comprised 30% of all imported goods.

• The toll from smoking is hard to estimate due to inadequate data, but a 1997 (WHO/MOH) study estimated that 6,000 Cambodians die annually from smoking.

The global situation:
WHO estimates that there are nearly 1.3 billion smokers worldwide with 80% of these smokers now living in low and middle-income countries. Tobacco is the only legal product that causes the death of half of its regular users and out of 1.3 billion smokers, 650 million people will die prematurely. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death, disease, and disability in the world today. Already, tobacco kills one in ten persons globally, accounting for approximately 5 million deaths per year. If the current trends continue, 10 million people will die each year by the year 2030, with majority of those deaths occurring in developing countries like Cambodia. If swift action is not taken, tobacco will soon become the leading cause of death worldwide, causing more deaths than HIV, Tuberculosis, maternal mortality, automobile accidents, homicide and suicide combined.

Countries pay far more for tobacco than they receive from the tobacco industry. Studies undertaken by the World Bank have established that tobacco is a net loss to almost all economies.

Smoking Prevelence from a variety of surveys since 2000 (MoH/NCHP, ADRA, NIS, MoDef.)

Smoking Prevelence in South East Asia

So Source: Tobacco Control Country profiles, SEATCA & NIS Tobacco survey, 2004

Source: 2004 Tobacco Survey, National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning

Smoking prevalence of men and women shown by rural and urban area SFCC 2004 ADRA Cambodia survey questionnaire. Community survey. Note: Women's prevalence is husband reported.

Source: SFCC Servey, 2004

Other prevalence:

Buddhist Monks: Province-specific smoking prevalence rates between 14.6% (Phnom Penh) and 37.50%
(Siem Reap)
Soldiers: 77%
Health professionals: 15%
Teachers: 11%

Further Statistics Links

• Monks In Cambodia
• Tobacco Control Country Profile