Why Tobacco Use in Malawi Hits the Poorest the Hardest?
June 02, 2026 by gfn.tv
Why Tobacco Use in Malawi Hits the Poorest the Hardest?
Tobacco use in Malawi is shown to be strongly shaped by poverty, education and regional inequality. Although around 95% of adults do not use tobacco, smoking remains much more common among the poorest communities than among the wealthiest. Combustible tobacco is the dominant form of use, while smokeless and dual use remain very low. Higher education appears to be linked with lower tobacco use, suggesting that social disadvantage plays an important role in who is most affected. The findings underline the need for policies that recognise poverty and inequality rather than treating tobacco use as the same problem across all groups.
6.00% of the adult population are current smokers. There are approximately 767,000 current smokers in Malawi 11.50% of men are current smokers but only 1.00% of women.
SOURCE: GSTHR
