Trends in smoking prevalence and attributable mortality in China, 1991-2011

China is the largest producer of tobacco worldwide. We assessed secular trends in prevalence of smoking, average cigarettes per day, mean age of initiation, and mortality attributable to smoking among the Chinese population between 1991 and 2011.

Data came from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, conducted eight times between 1991 and 2011. A total of 83,447 participants aged 15years or older were included in this study. Trends in smoking were stratified by sex, age, and region (urban vs. rural).

In 2011, 311 millions individuals were current smokers in China, with 295 million men and 16 million women, respectively. Between 1991 and 2011, the prevalence of current smoking decreased from 60.6% to 51.6% in men, and from 4.0% to 2.9% in women. However, during this period, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day per smoker increased from 15.0 to 16.5 in males, and from 8.5 to 12.4 in females. Further, age of smoking initiation decreased from 21.9 to 21.4years in men and from 31.4 to 28.4years in women. In 2011, 16.5% of all deaths in men and 1.7% in women were due to smoking. Between 1991 and 2011, the total number of deaths caused by smoking increased from 800,000 to 900,000.

During the past 20years, a slight decrease in smoking prevalence was observed in the Chinese population. However, cigarette smoking remains a major cause of death in China, especially in men.