In Europe, almost 30% of all adults are smokers. How many adults in the world smoke?

  • A. 20%
  • B. 30%
  • C. 40%

Correct answer

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), 19.9% of all adults in the world smoke. In Europe, 29.4% of all adults are smokers, which is more than any other region. Other WHO regions, such as Africa, the Americas, and SouthEast Asia have far lower number of smokers — 9.8%, 16.9% and 16.9% respectively – bringing the global figure down to 19.9%.

Data source

The evidence for the correct answer comes from the World Health Organization. Data per region and globally are available here:

Europeans think the rest of the world smokes more than they do

The results were terrible, with just 21% of respondents selecting the correct answer. Meanwhile, a monumental 79% thought that rates of smoking in other parts of the world were as high or even higher than in Europe. The results were terrible across all three surveyed countries, with the United Kingdom having the “least horrible” results. 23% of Brits got the answer right, while Germany and France lagged behind with 21% and 20% respectively.


Why do people pick the wrong answer?

Because they think that Europe is always best!

There’s a tendency for people to envisage European people as being extremely healthy. So, if 30% of Europeans are smokers, the rate for the rest of the world must be higher, right? Wrong. Europe may be the best in some areas, but certainly not all. And when it comes to smoking Europeans are leading the world by some margin, with far higher rates than are found in Africa, the Americas, or South-East Asia.