I s Smoking Affecting I ndian Economy?

According to a study done by Harvard School of Public Health, the economic burden
due to non-communicable diseases will be about $6.2 trillion for India, from 2012-2030.
This amount is almost nine times higher than the total health expenditure for the past
19 years.
Whats causing these numbers to rise?

So what has brought about these astronomical changes in the numbers? While communicable diseases
like polio and malaria are getting under control, there is a rise in cases of diabetes, hypertension, etc.
in urban India. And no, it is not just restricted to the aged; these diseases are attacking the youth in
great numbers. Is our lifestyle to be blamed for this? Sedentary lifestyles, smoking, drinking,
unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. If this is what your routine consists of, then it wont be
too long before the symptoms for one or the other disease shows up.
13 Things You May Not Know About I ndian Smokers:

If the numbers are to be believed, the gory pictorial warnings on the cigarette packs and ads in movie
halls has had an effect on smokers. According to a survey by Edelweiss, 65% of the smokers they
polled have thought about quitting cigarette after seeing the health warning on the packs. However,
this may not impact the cigarette industry since 87 per cent of all smokers buy their cigarettes loose
compared to the mere 13 per cent who buy packets which contains the pictorial warning.
"From our survey this trend emerges as the gutkha users have either shifted to the consumption of
cigarettes (38% of gutkha consumer) or have stopped the use of tobacco at all," the report said. The
survey also explained why your local paanwala stocks small sweets at all times and why it could be an
avenue of growth for some companies.
"47% of the smokers buy confectionaries along with cigarettes which creates an opportunity for the
confectionery companies particularly cigarette companies that manufacture them such as ITC with
Candyman and Godfrey Phillips with Funda Goli) to leverage upon cigarette distribution channels to
grow its confectionary sales," Edelweiss said.
Following are the key highlights of the survey:

72% smokers belonged to metros with Mumbai having the largest number of smokers.

22% of the 1166 respondents' smoke, of which 66% are regular smokers, while the remaining
smoke occasionally.

As per Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) - India 2010 survey, cigarette smokers form
5.7% of the adult population



83% of the people started smoking when they were in the age of 15-25. As per GATS the
average age initiation of tobacco use is 17.8 and with India being a young country having
more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 the possibility of the cigarette
consumption increasing is high.

79% of the smokers smoke more than 1 cigarette a day, 27% of the smokers smoke about 2-5
cigarettes a day while about 22% of them smoke 5-10 cigarettes a day. The proportion of
people smoking more than 10 cigarettes is 14%.

ITC brands remain the first choice of the smokers being used by 68% of smokers. Classic
Mild is the most smoked cigarette (18.6%), followed by Gold Flake Kings and Gold Flake
Light (17.9% and 13.4% respectively). Godfrey Phillips is the second most preferred
company with 14% of the people smoking its products i.e. Malboro (~13%) and Four Square
(1%).


Smokers stick to their preferred brand; as 90% of the smokers do not shift to other brands due
to price increase. The report expects ITC's cigarette margins to improve despite price hikes
due to high brand loyalty.

The main reason due to which people start smoking is curiosity (66% of smokers polled said
so). Awareness among the people about the harmful effects of smoking has resulted in 39%
smokers decreasing their cigarette consumption gradually over a period of 2-3 years. Still
40% of smokers maintained their consumption trend of smoking while 21% of smokers
increased their consumption over a period of time.

There is also a strong correlation when there is an immediate family member that smokes and
the habit influencing the other members of the family. 21% of the immediate family member
of the respondent smoke which is in line with the 22% of the respondents who smoke.

66% of the smokers have tried to quit smoking; urban consumers are more willing to give up
smoking as compared to their rural peers.

32% of the smokers spend more than Rs 50 on cigarettes per day. 24% of smokers spend less
than Rs 10 per day which means they either smoke only 1 cigarette a day or they smoke 2-3
64mm cigarettes a day. The per capita consumption of cigarette in India is 96 per annum
which is one of the lowest in the world. However when compared with other items consumed
on a daily basis (like soaps, shampoos etc.), the amount spent on cigarette per consumption is
higher which can come down due to inflationary pressures (Consumers might reduce their
cigarette consumption from 3 to 2 per day or may be reduce to 1, since they might feel the
pinch of the price increase as the consumption of other day to day important items cannot be
reduced).

60% of the smokers are not affected by the ban on consumption of cigarettes in publicplaces.

39% of the smokers preferred shifting to electronic cigarette in the wake of health issue. 27%
smokers were not ready to shift to electronic cigarette while the remaining were unaware
about this alternative.
Smoking rates fall among I ndian men, rise for women:


The number of female smokers in India has more than doubled from about 5.3 million to 12.2 million in
last three decades.
While smoking rates have fallen among Indian men, they have risen among women. A factor, doctors
say, that can be attributed to rising cases of infertility and higher risk of cancer among Indian women
these days.
A study published earlier this year in the British Medical Journal and which was earlier carried by the
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined the prevalence of smoking and
cigarette consumption in 187 countries between 1980 and 2012 and found that while cigarette
smoking among Indian men has fallen from 33.8 per cent in 1980 to 23 per cent in 2012, it has risen
from three per cent to 3.2 per cent among Indian women within the same time frame.
In absolute terms, the number of female smokers in India has more than doubled - from about 5.3
million to 12.2 million in that time frame.