The Toll of Tobacco in Nigeria

Tobacco Consumption

• 5.6 percent of adults (age 15+) in Nigeria use tobacco products.¹
• Rates are much higher among men than among women: 10 percent of men and 1.1 percent of women use tobacco products.¹
• 3.7 percent of adults (age15+) smoke cigarettes and 1.9 percent use smokeless tobacco.¹
• Among youth (ages 13-15), 15.4 percent use tobacco products (boys 19.2 percent and girls 11.1 percent):
  • 3.5 percent smoke cigarettes (boys 5.6 percent and girls 1.3 percent), and 8.8 percent use smokeless tobacco (boys 10.6 percent and girls 6.8 percent).²

Secondhand Smoke Exposure

• 17.3 percent of adults who work indoors (2.7 million) are exposed to secondhand smoke in their workplace; 29.3 percent are exposed in restaurants, and 9.4 percent are exposed in public transportation.¹
• Among youth (ages 13-15), 39.7 percent are exposed to secondhand smoke in public places and 21.7 percent are exposed at home.²

Health Consequences

• Every year more than 26,500 Nigerians are die from smoking related causes.³
• 350 men and 160 women die as a result from smoking on a weekly basis in Nigeria.³

Tobacco Industry

British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) dominating sales of cigarettes at about 79 percent of market share by volume. Philip Morris International holds 1.1 percent.⁴

FCTC Status

Nigeria ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on October 20, 2005. The treaty went into effect on January 18, 2006.

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, 2012.
² Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2008; Subnational (Abuja).
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