Smoking in Egypt

The trend in current smoking prevalence in the general population in Egypt shows an increase from 17% in 2000 to 24% in 2015, and a projected further increase to 32% by 2025 according to WHO trend data. This increase has been driven solely by men's smoking - 32% of men were current smokers in 2000, which increased to 48% by 2015 and is projected to increase further to 63% by 2025. Women's current smoking prevalence estimates, which started at 2% in 2000, actually showed a decline to virtually zero over the same period. The WHO published prevalence trend estimates in tobacco smoking, as shown here, in their 2018 2nd edition report, which show slightly different smoking prevalence to the WHO country profiles. Data for the estimates are not age standardised, and were obtained from WHO databases. The trend lines are projections, not predictions, of future attainment. A projection indicates a likely endpoint if the country maintains its tobacco control efforts at the same level that it has implemented them to date. Therefore the impact of recent interventions could alter the expected endpoint shown in the projection. While the methods of estimation used in the first and second editions of the WHO report are the same, the volume of data available for the second edition is larger i.e. 200 more national surveys. The results presented are therefore more robust.