Around 24.6 million Brazilians aged 15 and over smoked tobacco products in 2008, what corresponded to 17.2% of the population in this age group. Percentages of smokers were larger among men (21.6%), persons aged between 45 and 64 (22.7%), inhabitants of the South Region of Brazil (19.0%), those who lived in rural areas (20.4%), people disadvantaged by poor schooling (25.0% among those who received no education or who had less than one year of studying), and those with the lowest per capita household income (19.9% among those with no income or with less than ¼ minimum wage). Most of them started smoking at 17 to 19 years old, and among those who smoked daily, the usual consumption was 15 to 24 cigarettes per day. The first cigarette was smoked between 6 and 30 minutes after awakening. Schooling was a determining factor in the starting age of smoking.

 

On the other hand, almost all smokers (93.0%) admitted to know that cigarettes may cause serious diseases, and a little more than half of them (52.1%) said they intended to quit smoking. Besides, 65.0% of smokers informed that warnings on cigarette packs made them think of quitting.

 

These are some highlights of the Special Survey of Tobacco Use (Petab), which draws an original and detailed picture of the use of tobacco products in Brazil, among persons aged 15 and over, with information according to country, major regions and federation units. Petab was conducted by IBGE in partnership with the Ministry of Health, and with technical support by the National Institute of Cancer (Inca), applied to a subsample (approximately 50 thousand households) of the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad) 2008. The survey followed the model of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), which is also being carried out in other 13 countries¹, by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The international project also involves the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA) and is supported by the Bloomberg Philantropies.

 

The major information of Petab 2008 follows.

 

In Brazil, in 2008, 17.5% of the population aged 15 and over used to consume tobacco products (smoked or not)², what corresponded to 25 million people. The largest percentage of users was found in the South Region (19.0%) and the smallest, in the Southeast and Central West (16.9% each) regions. In all regions the percentage of men was larger than that of women.

 

Users of smokeless tobacco were 0.4% of Brazilians aged 15 and over. The largest percentages were found among men (0.6%) and in the Northeast region (0.9%).

 

Therefore, 17.2% of the population in the investigated age group (24.6 million people) used to consume smoked tobacco, i.e., were tobacco smokers: 14.8 million of them were men (21.6% of the total 15 and over) and 9.8 million, women (13.1% of the total of this age group).

 

Among smokers, just around 3 million (12.2% of smokers and 2.1% of the total population aged 15 and over) smoked occasionally.

 

Among non-smokers (118.4 million people or 82.8% of the population aged 15 and over), 78.1% (64.7% of the population aged 15 and over, or 92.5 million people) had never smoked, a percentage that was larger among women (71.7% of the total women aged 15 and over) than among men (57.0%).

 

Ex-smokers (26 million people) were 18.2% of the population aged 15 and over, and 22.0% of the non-smokers, in 2008.

 

Largest percentages of smokers are among men, in the South region, in rural areas, among poorly schooled, and among those with the lowest per capita household income

 

The South Region had, in 2008, the largest percentage of tobacco smokers (19.0%); the smallest percentages were found in the Central West (16.6%) and Southeast (16.7%) regions. Among men, the largest percentages of smokers were found in the Northeast (22.9% or 4.2 million people) and in the South (22.5% or 2.3 million); among women, in the South (15.9%) and the Southeast (13.3%).

 

Among the federation units, the largest percentages of tobacco smokers in the population aged 15 and over belonged to Acre (22.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (20.7%) and Paraíba (20.2%), whereas the smallest ones were found in Amazonas (13.9%), the Federal District (13.4%) and Sergipe (13.1%).

 

 

The percentage of tobacco smokers was larger in rural areas (20.4% or 4.4 million people) than in urban ones (16.6% or 20.1 million people). The largest percentage of smokers was recorded among persons with no schooling or with less than one year of studying (25.7% of the total of this group). At the other extreme, among persons with 11 years of schooling or more, 11.9% used to smoke – a situation observed in all regions of the country. The percentage of smokers was also larger among those who declared themselves blacks or mixed-ancestry people (19.0%) than among whites (15.3%). A similar behavior was observed in all regions.

 

The age group between 45 and 64 presented the greatest concentration of smokers (22.7% of people in this age group), a fact verified in all regions of the country.

 

It was also possible to observe, especially in the South and Northeast regions, that the highest per capita income, the lowest the proportion of smokers, according to the following table.

 

Schooling is a determining factor in the age of starting smoking

 

Among the 24.6 million tobacco smokers, 21.5 million (87.4%) used to smoke everyday, what corresponded to 15.1% of persons aged 15 and over. Among men in this age group, 18.9% used to smoke daily and 2.7%, occasionally; among women, those percentages were 11.5% and 1.6%, respectively. Again the South region presented the largest percentages of daily smokers, both in the overall population (17.3%) and among men (20.5%) and women (14.3%).

 

Most daily smokers or ex-smokers aged 20 to 34 acquired the smoking habit between ages 17 and 19 (31.9%). This situation was described among men (34.1%), women (28.7%), in urban (32.3%) and rural areas (29.8%) and in almost all regions, but the Northeast, where distribution according to age group was more even: younger than 15 (23.7%), 15 and 16 (27.5%), between 17 and 19 (27.3%), 20 and over (21.5%).

Schooling is a crucial factor that determines the age of starting smoking: among persons with no formal education or less than one year of studying, the proportion of those who started smoking before 15 years old reaches 40.8%.

 

 

17.1% of the persons aged 15 and over smoke cigarettes; 85.4% of them do it daily

 

Cigarettes³ are the main item consumed by users of tobacco products: cigarette smokers totaled, in 2008, 24.4 million persons, 99.5% of the total number of users of smoked tobacco. Cigarette smokers represented 17.1% of the Brazilian population aged 15 and over, which consisted of 21.5% of men and 13% of women in this age group.

 

Out of the 24.4 million cigarette smokers, 85.6% (14.6% of the overall population aged 15 and over, or 20.9 million persons) used to smoke daily. The highlight in terms of Major Region was, once more, the South, where 16.8% of the persons aged 15 years and over used to smoke cigarettes daily. The smallest percentages were those of the North (13.1%) and Northeast (13.8%) regions. Among the Federation Units, Rio Grande do Sul concentrated the majority of cigarette smokers (18.4%), whereas Amapá had the fewest number of such kind (8.2%).

 

Number of cigarettes consumed by daily smokers ranges between 15 and 24

 

The biggest part of daily cigarette smokers (33.9%) used to consume between 15 and 24 cigarettes a day (35.6% among men and 31.2% among women). In urban areas, this figure reached 36.1%.

 

The percentage of smokers who used to consume between 15 and 24 cigarettes a day was below the national average in the North (26.5%) and Northeast (24.6%), and above in the Central West (34.3%), Southeast (37.7%) and South (40.1%) regions. On the other hand, the North (20.9%) and Northeast (20.6%) were above the national average (16.3%) with reference to daily smoking of less than five cigarettes, whereas the Southeast (15.3%), Central West (13.8%) and South (11.8%) were below the average. 

 

Most commonly, it used to take daily cigarette smokers between 6 and 30 minutes after awakening to smoke the first cigarette (39.3%). The proportion of persons who smoked within five minutes after getting up was 21.0%, whereas, on the other hand, the first cigarette was smoked over 61 minutes after awakening by 25.6% of smokers.

 

Daily ex-tobacco smokers made up 14.1% of the population aged 15 and over, in 2008, or 20.1 million persons (17.2% among women and 11.2% among men).

 

Considering those who had quit smoking, there was a predominance of persons who had quit at least ten years before (57.3%) – a condition observed in the analyses by sex (60.1% of men and 53.3% of women) and by rural (53.6%) or urban dwelling (58.0%).

 

Among those who had quit smoking in the 12 previous months (26.6 million persons), 45.6% had tried to quit smoking in this same period (43.0% among men and 49.5% among women). In the group of persons who had tried to quit, 6.7% made use of medicines and 15.2% had professional counseling.

 

Quitting is a project for half of the smokers, but only 7.3% intend to do it soon

 

Of the overall number of tobacco-derivative smokers (24.6 million persons), 52.1% declared to have planned or considered quitting smoking (49.2% among men and 57.1% among women). The largest percentages of smokers who were considering quitting were found in the Federal District (62.2%), Tocantins (61.3%) and Bahia (61.1%) and the lowest in Amazonas (35.3%) and Rondônia (38.2%).

 

 

A little more than one out of each three smokers (33.5%) reported the intention of quitting one day, but not within the 12 months following the interview; 11.4% declared to have considered quitting within the 12 following months; and only 7.3% expressed the intention of quitting in the month following the interview (Sep 08). Similar behavior was observed in all the Major Regions.

 

On the other hand, 57.1% of Brazilian smokers had been warned to quit smoking (55.7% among men and 58.5% among women), considering that warnings had occurred more frequently in the Southeast (59.5%) and South (59.3%) and less frequently in the North Region (49.9%).

 

Exposure to smoke produced by smokers occurs mainly at home

 

The place most commonly mentioned when considering second-hand tobacco smoking was the smoker’s own home, as referred to by 27.9% of the persons aged 15 and over – such percentage reached 33.0% in the Northeast. Exposure at work was reported, in 2008, by 24.4% of workers aged 15 and over who (11.6 million, in absolute figures) – and was 26.0% in the Southeast. In restaurants, the figure was 9.9% - having reached 12.3% in the Southeast.

 

Smokers from the South Region used to spend, on average, almost R$ 100 a month on cigarettes

 

Bars, pubs and restaurants were the most commonly chosen places for the purchase of industrialized cigarettes in Brazil, having been mentioned by 53.8% of the smokers. Also relevant were supermarkets, markets and grocery stores (21.7%) and snack bars (14.8%).

 

On average, smokers of industrialized cigarettes used to spend R$ 78.43 a month on cigarettes. Men (R$ 89.27) used to spend more than women (R$ 62.80). By Major Region, the lowest figures were the ones relative to the North (R$ 59.97) and Northeast (R$ 59.14), and the highest, in the South (R$ 98.99). The Southeast had an average expenditure of R$ 78.39 per month and the Central West, of R$ 93.42.

 

Tobacco advertisement displayed in points of sale were seen by 31.3% of the persons aged 15 years and over, with figures of 38.2% among smokers and 29.9% among non-smokers. By area, this type of advertisement was least common in the North of the country (by 18.0% of the persons aged 15 years and over); whereas in the Southeast and South, coverage reached 35.2% and 35.4%, respectively.

 

Advertisement in different areas of points of sale or in sports events were noticed by 21.3% of the persons aged 15 years and over, with figures of 20.1% among smokers and of 21.5% among non-smokers.

 

On the other hand, campaigns against tobacco smoking broadcast on TV or radio were seen by 67.0% of the persons aged 15 and over, a proportion which was 67.7% among smokers and 66.9% among non-smokers.

 

65.0% have considered quitting smoking due to warnings on cigarette packs

 

Over half of the smokers (65.0%) said to have considered quitting smoking due to warnings on cigarette packs (63.5% among men and 67.2% among women). Cigarette pack labels caused major impact in the North Region (where 59.6% of smokers considered quitting) and less impact in the Southeast (66.7%) and Central West (66.1%). The impact of labels was higher in Roraima (where 91.7% of the smokers considered quitting), Rondônia (75.0%) and the Federal District (74.7%), and lower in Amazonas (50.2%), Alagoas (45.8%) and Acre (45.2%).

 

 

93.0% of the smokers are aware that cigarettes may cause serious illnesses

 

Smoking may cause serious illnesses. A total 96.1% of Brazilians aged 15 and over believe this statement, as declared by 93.0% of smokers and 96.7% of non-smokers in the country. The most commonly mentioned notion is that tobacco may cause lung cancer (to 94.7% of the total persons investigated, 90.6% of smokers and 95.6% of non-smokers). Risks associated to strokes were the least mentioned ones (by 73.1% of the population aged 15 years and over), reaching, even so, 70.1% among smokers and

73.7% among non-smokers.

 

 

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¹ Besides Brazil, Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, India, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay and Vietnam. Data from Thailand have already been published and may be accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/global/gats/countries/sear/fact_sheets/thailand/index.htm.

² Smoked tobacco products (that produce smoke): industrialized cigarettes, straw or hand-rolled cigarettes, kretek or clove cigarettes, beedis/Indian cigarettes; cigars or cigarillos; pipes and hookahs. Smokeless tobacco products (that do not produce smoke): snuff; chewing tobacco; and snus or dipping tobacco.

³ Rolled tobacco items that produce smoke. This category comprises industrialized cigarettes, kretek or clove cigarettes, and straw or hand-rolled cigarettes.