Tobacco Prevalence in Nigeria

At least 3.2 million (3.4%) Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 49 used tobacco in 2018 (NDHS, 2018).

About 200,000  tobacco users are women. Although cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use in Nigeria, there are other unique forms of tobacco, such as emerging tobacco products, that are under-reported. 

This page provides information on tobacco use by gender, age, education, and location among Nigerians adults and discusses tobacco use among Nigerian youth (NDHS data only looks at people between the ages of 15 – 49).

Although prevalence is generally low in Nigeria, there are groups of people with high consumption rates and these might not be adequately captured in a household survey such as the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS, 2018).

The NDHS has lower smoking prevalence than other surveys that focus on tobacco use, but this is the most recent nationally representative survey in Nigeria and is still useful for understanding how tobacco use is changing over time in Nigeria.

Studies that focus on high-risk groups, such as university students, truck drivers, and agberos have shown prevalence that is up to 4 times the rate of the general population.

The graphs in the tabs below represent the overall prevalence for any type of tobacco. Click on each tab to see more.

Nigerians aged 35 – 44 report the highest level of use of any type of tobacco (5.5%). Those younger than 25 use tobacco the least and fewer than 1% of 15 – 19 year olds report using tobacco. However, the NDHS may not accurately capture prevalence among young people in Nigeria.

It is a household survey and does not survey those living in institutions such as universities where smoking prevalence is known to be high. The actual prevalence for young people is probably higher than the rate reported in the NDHS.


Prevalence of Tobacco Use by Age Group


15-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-490.0%1.0%2.0%3.0%4.0%5.0%6.0%Prevalence (%)0.5%1.6%3.2%4.6%5.5%5.5%4.9%

Data source: NDHS 2018

At least 6.6% of men and 0.5% of women use any type of tobacco product. Most tobacco users smoke cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco is not common in Nigeria (NDHS, 2018).

The graph below presents the prevalence of tobacco use disaggregated by different variables including gender, age, education and wealth.


Prevalence of 15-49 year-olds who smoke various tobacco products daily and occasionally (less than daily)



20180.00%1.00%2.00%3.00%4.00%Prevalence (%)2.88%0.62%0.66%

Data source: NDHS 2018


Only 0.1% of women and 1.2% of men use smokeless tobacco. Snuff is the most popular smokeless tobacco product.  Some people use both smoked and smokeless tobacco products.

The graph below displays the total consumption by type of product disaggregated by gender.


Prevalence of smokeless tobacco product users



Smokeless Snuff NoseSmokeless Snuff MouthSmokeless ChewSmokeless BetelSmokeless Other0.00%0.20%0.40%0.60%0.80%1.00%Prevalence (%)0.93%0.48%0.18%0.06%0.10%0.06%0.04%

Data source: NDHS 2018


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Nigeria lacks representative data about youth smoking

There are no nationally representative surveys of youth tobacco use in Nigeria.

Smaller studies that have been done at the state or city level, including the 2008 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), show that tobacco use rates for youths in school (ages 13-15) are higher than for adults. Half of adolescent tobacco users will continue using into adulthood. Tobacco use rates for girls are higher than for adult women, which could be a cause for concern if they continue into adulthood. Youth are more likely to use tobacco products other than cigarettes.

Rates of youth tobacco use vary widely in different locations and contexts. Risk factors for smoking also vary depending on context. For example, a study in  Enugu State found that, in rural areas, children from richer households were more likely to use tobacco than poorer households, but the opposite was true in urban areas.

Tobacco control issues should be included in the curriculum at least in secondary and primary school so students – who are targeted by the tobacco industry – can understand the harmful effects of tobacco.

CSO – TCDI Nigeria Assessment mission
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Out-of-school youth are more at risk than in-school youth

One out of five of the world’s out-of-school youth are in Nigeria.

Although many tobacco control advocates are concerned about out-of-school youth and their likelihood of smoking cigarettes, most studies on youth smoking prevalence in Nigeria focus on school-going youth. Studies in Nigeria show that out-of-school youth are at higher risk for smoking than their in-school peers. Studies in South Africa show that out-of-school youth smoke 33% more than those in school. This pattern also holds in low and middle income countries – e.g., India and the Philippines. 

Out-of-school youth include street children and those who live in a home. Street children may be at even higher risk for tobacco use than those who have a home. In rural areas in Nigeria, it has been found that children who live on the street have higher smoking rates than their in-school peers.

Studies in India and the Philippines have documented that street children, who are usually out-of-school youths, are more vulnerable to risky practices, such as increased smoking and other forms of substance abuse, especially in the face of weak family bonds and the harsh realities of survival. These psychosocial factors were found to contribute significantly to the prevalence of smoking among street youth; adequate social support and efforts to integrate youths with their families may help reduce tobacco smoking. 

Out-of-school youths are usually least prioritized in tobacco smoking research and control programs and may lack opportunities to benefit from formal health education and antismoking campaigns, when compared to in-school youths. Prioritizing this group in smoking prevention campaigns may be particularly effective.

Most smokers in Nigeria start using tobacco in their teens, between the ages of 16 and 17 (Adeyole et al., 2019).

In some areas, the average age of initiation is 12.

There are many factors that can encourage people to start smoking, including social factors such as peer influence, male gender “privilege”, family conditions – low education, polygamy, not living with parents, parents who smoke, divorced or separated parents, loneliness and depression. There are also factors such as advertising and accessibility, which can be influenced by nationally enforced policies. Nigeria’s ban on most tobacco advertising is a great step in preventing young people from starting to use tobacco.

Countries need good data on tobacco use in order to implement appropriate tobacco control policies.

This is common in developed countries, which conduct regular surveys about tobacco use and use the results to recommend policies. This has also started becoming more common in African countries.

Kenya has recently used data and existing research to implement a tobacco control policy successfully.

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Case Study


Kenya

Kenya has tried to address the need for evidence-driven policies and interventions in recent years. These efforts have included trying to understand the research landscape to guide the implementation of a research agenda and conducting research to inform the 2017 tobacco-control policy Act formulation.

It appears that these efforts are yielding much-needed results as an assessment of tobacco- control efforts concluded that Kenya achieved up to 75% implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

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