China saw largest smoker population: report

China's National Health and Family Planning Commission is planning to implement a nation-wide ban on smoking in public places by the end of 2017.[Photo:163.com]

The number of daily smokers around the world has hit 1 billion in 2015, most from China, India, the U.S. and Russia, says a new report.

The report from medical journal The Lancet also says that one-in-ten deaths in the world are related to smoking, and half are seen in these four countries.

The same figures also show that one-in-four men and one-in-twenty women are smokers. The numbers for both male and female smokers in China are ranked among top three in the report.

One-in-four men and one-in-twenty women are smokers. [Photo:163.com]

Earlier research from the World Health Organization suggests rising incomes, as well as profits from tobacco, have made cigarettes hard to quit in the developing world.

Though WHO's latest data reveals a general decrease in global tobacco use, in developing countries like China, smoking rates are still on the rise.

The WHO is recommending countries in the developing world consider bringing in higher taxes, as well as further restrictions or all-out bans on smoking, to counter this.

China's National Health and Family Planning Commission is planning to implement a nation-wide ban on smoking in public places by the end of 2017.

Beijing and Shanghai have already rolled out full-scale bans on public smoking. [Photo:163.com]

Major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already rolled out full-scale bans on public smoking. Municipal authorities have also put limits on tobacco advertising and promotions.

China is the world's largest cigarette producer. The China Tobacco Corporation produces 205 trillion cigarettes on an annual basis.

The industry supports around 20 million jobs, nearly 500,000 of which are directly related to tobacco.