This report therefore focuses on manufactured cigarettes and bidis. The per capita consumption in these countries climbed steadily between 1970 and 1990, although the upward trend may have slowed a little since the early 1990s. Per capita consumption for the populations of the high-income countries as a whole also has dropped. However, among certain groups in these countries, such as teenagers and young women, the proportion who smoke has grown in the 1990s. In recent years, international trade agreements have liberalized global trade in many goods and services.
Cigarettes are no exception.
The removal of trade barriers tends to introduce greater competition that results in lower prices, greater advertising and promotion, and other activities that stimulate demand. Regional patterns in smoking Data on the number of smokers in each region have been compiled by the World Health Organization using more than 80 separate studies. As Table 1.1 shows, there are wide variations between regions and, in particular, in the prevalence of smoking among women in different regions. Yet in East Asia and the Pacific, where the prevalence of male smoking is equally high, at 59 percent, just 4 percent of women were smokers. Smoking and socioeconomic status Historically, as incomes rose within populations, the number of people who smoked rose too.