Smoking in Russia

Per capita tobacco smoking rates in Russia have historically ranked among the highest in the world, making the country a prized market for tobacco companies facing declining growth across the heavily regulated Western world. Russia was the fourth-largest consumer of cigarettes, with an annual consumption of about 400 billion. In 2012, approximately 44 million Russians were smokers, or about 40% of the population (60% were men and 22% were women). Since then, however, Russian smoking rates have fallen significantly, in part due to aggressive tobacco control reforms implemented by the Putin administration in the early 2010s. As of 2024, 18.6% of the Russian population are daily smokers.

According to the Public Chamber of Russia, smoking kills around 400,000 Russians per year. Smoking-related deaths cost the Russian economy about 3% of its annual GDP, amounting to $36 billion.