The Toll of Tobacco in Kenya

Tobacco Consumption

• 11.6 percent of adults (age 15+) in Kenya use tobacco products.¹
• Rates are much higher among men than among women: 19.1 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women use tobacco products.¹
• 7.8 percent of adults (age 15+) smoke tobacco and 4.5 percent use smokeless tobacco.¹
• Among youth (ages 13-15), 9.9 percent use tobacco products (boys 12.8 percent and girls 6.7 percent), 4.9 percent smoke cigarettes (boys 7.4 percent and girls 2.6 percent), and 3.9 percent use smokeless tobacco (boys 4.3 percent and girls 3.3 percent).²

Secondhand Smoke Exposure

• 17.6 percent of adults who work indoors (0.7 million) are exposed to secondhand smoke in their workplace; 21.2 percent are exposed in restaurants (2.1 million), and 12.4 percent are exposed in public transportation.¹
• Among youth (ages 13-15), 44.5 percent are exposed to secondhand smoke in public places and 24.8 percent are exposed at home.²

Health Consequences

• Every year more than 9,000 Kenyans are killed from smoking-related causes.³
• Even though fewer men and women die on average in Kenya than in other low-income countries, still 129 men and 45 women die from smoking-related causes on a weekly basis.³

Tobacco Industry

The market for manufacture and distribution of cigarettes in Kenya is controlled by two companies, with multinational British American Tobacco dominating at 77.5 percent of market share by volume and domestic player Mastermind Tobacco Kenya controlling 19.6 percent.⁴

FCTC Status

Kenya ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on June 25, 2004. The treaty went into effect on February 27, 2005.

Tobacco Control Policy Status

For information regarding smoke-free places, advertising and promotion, and packaging and labeling, visit the Tobacco Control Laws website.

¹ Global Adults Tobacco Survey, 2014.
² Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2013; National.
³ Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2015. Seattle, WA: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, 2017
⁴ Euromonitor International, 2017

Last updated Aug. 31, 2017