* There are "1 billion smokers in the world which of five million die every year, and this number is expected to increase to / 10 / million by year / 2020 /".

* According to scientific studies, smoking leads to the loss of / 8 / years of the smoker activity and ability as well as economic losses.

* About a third of the male adult global population smokes.

* Smoking related-diseases kill one in 10 adults globally, or cause four million deaths. By 2030, if current trends continue, smoking will kill one in six people.

* Every eight seconds, someone dies from tobacco use.

* Smoking is on the rise in the developing world. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.

* About 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily - or 10 million every minute.

* Among WHO Regions, the Western Pacific Region* - which covers East Asia and the Pacific - has the highest smoking rate, with nearly two-thirds of men smoking. About one in three cigarettes are consumed in the Western Pacific Region.

Youth
* Among young teens (aged 13 to 15), about one in five smokes worldwide.
* Between 80,000 and 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day - roughly half of whom live in Asia.
* Evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years.
* About a quarter of youth alive in the Western Pacific Region will die from smoking.

Health
* Half of long-term smokers will die from tobacco. Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average - about the time taken to smoke it.
* Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. It is a prime factor in heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease. It can cause cancer of the lungs, larynx, oesophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidneys.
* More than 4,000 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals have been found in tobacco smoke.
* At least a quarter of all deaths from heart diseases and about three-quarters of world's chronic bronchitis are related to smoking.

Smoking Death Statistics
* Tobacco use is a risk factor for 6 of 8 leading cause of death in the world.

Source: WHO Report 2008
Areas which are hatched indicate proportions of death that are related to tobacco and are colored according to the column of the respective cause of death.

* Tobacco is no doubt the single most cause of death in the world.
* Tobacco kills more than 5 million people which is much much more than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria combined.
* By 2030 tobacco is going to kill 8 million people a year.