Health · Africa ranking
Smoking Prevalence by African country
Lesotho has the highest share of adults who smoke of any African country, at 28%, ahead of Madagascar and Egypt.
Share of adults who currently smoke any tobacco product (age-standardised). 45 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024.
Lesotho
Madagascar
EgyptBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Smoking Prevalence | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lesotho | 28% | |
| 2 | Madagascar | 25.6% | |
| 3 | Egypt | 25% | |
| 4 | Tunisia | 24.4% | |
| 5 | Libya | 24.2% | |
| 6 | South Africa | 23.7% | |
| 7 | Algeria | 22.4% | |
| 8 | Botswana | 18% | |
| 9 | Mauritius | 17.7% | |
| 10 | Seychelles | 17.3% | |
| 11 | Republic of the Congo | 16.2% | |
| 12 | Zambia | 14.3% | |
| 13 | Namibia | 14.1% | |
| 14 | Gabon | 13.3% | |
| 15 | Morocco | 12.5% | |
| 16 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 12.3% | |
| 17 | Burkina Faso | 11.6% | |
| 18 | Eswatini | 11.5% | |
| 19 | Sierra Leone | 11.3% | |
| 20 | Gambia | 11.1% | |
| 21 | Zimbabwe | 11% | |
| 22 | Mozambique | 10.5% | |
| 23 | Cabo Verde | 10.4% | |
| 24 | Burundi | 10.1% | |
| 25 | Rwanda | 10.1% | |
| 26 | Mauritania | 9.9% | |
| 27 | Kenya | 9.6% | |
| 28 | Comoros | 8.9% | |
| 29 | Malawi | 8.9% | |
| 30 | Sao Tome and Principe | 8.3% | |
| 31 | Guinea-Bissau | 8.2% | |
| 32 | Tanzania | 7.7% | |
| 33 | Uganda | 7.5% | |
| 34 | Benin | 7.4% | |
| 35 | Chad | 7.4% | |
| 36 | Mali | 7.4% | |
| 37 | Niger | 7.4% | |
| 38 | Cote d'Ivoire | 7.3% | |
| 39 | Togo | 5.8% | |
| 40 | Cameroon | 5.7% | |
| 41 | Senegal | 5.4% | |
| 42 | Ethiopia | 5.2% | |
| 43 | Liberia | 5.2% | |
| 44 | Ghana | 3.3% | |
| 45 | Nigeria | 3.1% |
Tunisia
Libya
South Africa
Algeria
Botswana
Mauritius
Seychelles
Republic of the Congo
Zambia
Namibia
Gabon
Morocco
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Burkina Faso
Eswatini
Sierra Leone
Gambia
Zimbabwe
Mozambique
Cabo Verde
Burundi
Rwanda
Mauritania
Kenya
Comoros
Malawi
Sao Tome and Principe
Guinea-Bissau
Tanzania
Uganda
Benin
Chad
Mali
Niger
Cote d'Ivoire
Togo
Cameroon
Senegal
Ethiopia
Liberia
Ghana
NigeriaGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Smoking Prevalence figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=smoking_prevalence_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest share of adults who smoke?
Lesotho has the highest share of adults who smoke in Africa at 28% (2024), followed by Madagascar and Egypt.
Which African country has the lowest share of adults who smoke?
Nigeria has the lowest share of adults who smoke of the 45 African countries with data, at 3.1% (2024).
How many African countries report Smoking Prevalence data?
45 of 54 African countries have a Smoking Prevalence figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2022–2024). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=smoking_prevalence_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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