10 African countries with the highest population of tobacco users

Business Insider Africa presents 10 African countries with the highest population of tobacco users.
This list is courtesy of the World Health Organization's recent tobacco trends report.
Egypt has the highest population of tobacco users in Africa.

Tobacco use remains a global health crisis, exacting a heavy toll on individuals, communities, and economies. Despite widespread awareness of its harmful effects, tobacco continues to be a leading cause of preventable death and disease.

However, a report by the WHO on tobacco use globally, titled “WHO Global Report on Trends in Prevalence of Tobacco Use 2000–2030,” its latest iteration of the report shows that 150 countries are successfully reducing tobacco use.

“Good progress has been made in tobacco control in recent years, but there is no time for complacency. I’m astounded at the depths the tobacco industry will go to pursue profits at the expense of countless lives. We see that the minute a government thinks they have won the fight against tobacco the tobacco industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policies and sell their deadly products," says Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of the WHO Department of Health Promotion.

However, a substantial amount of people including in Africa still indulge in heavy tobacco usage. With that said, here are the 10 African countries with the highest population of tobacco users.

Rank	Country	WHO's estimated number of current tobacco users (thousands)
1.	Egypt	18,183
2.	South Africa	8 350
3.	Algeria	6,665
4.	Democratic Republic of the Congo	5,713
5.	Sudan	4,597
6.	Madagascar	4,585
7.	Morocco	3,541
8.	Nigeria	3,534
9.	Ethiopia	3,372
10.	Kenya	3,066