In Vietnam, the tobacco epidemic persists

In Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan noted that tobacco use continues to be high in the country, and that smoking represents a particularly heavy financial cost to government.[1].

More than 40% of smokers among men

Although tobacco use has declined in Vietnam since the ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2004, the country has one of the highest smoking prevalence rates in the world. According to WHO data, more than one in five Vietnamese aged 15 and over are smokers. As in many countries, smoking primarily affects men, with more than 40% of them using tobacco, compared to less than 1% of women. A report published in November 2023 shows that the low smoking prevalence among women is seen as an opportunity by the tobacco industry, which targets this consumer base through advertising and marketing campaigns, associating tobacco with fashion, glamour, or women's empowerment.[2], taking up a strategy developed by cigarette manufacturers for a century now.

The cost of smoking in Vietnam

In 2022, Vietnam produced nearly 35,000 tonnes of raw tobacco, accounting for 0.6% of the world's annual consumption, estimated at 5.8 million tonnes, placing the country in 19^th tobacco producers. However, the weight of tobacco in the economy tends to gradually decrease: between 2010 and 2022, the production of raw tobacco in Vietnam decreased by almost 40%, while the agricultural areas dedicated to tobacco production decreased by more than 56%[3]. Such a decline tends to reflect the gradual awareness of the Vietnamese public authorities with regard to the cost that tobacco represents for the economy. Indeed, the expenditure of the Vietnamese public authorities linked to tobacco consumption, including both health expenses, productivity losses linked to the development of pathologies, or premature deaths, amounted to more than four billion euros per year in 2022, five times more than the tax revenues generated by the sale of tobacco products in the country. Beyond public accounts, the whole of Vietnamese society is economically penalized by smoking, since a study estimates that tobacco consumption, particularly addictive, tends to aggravate social inequalities by keeping populations in cycles of poverty. This same study considers that in 2018, smoking pushed more than 300,000 Vietnamese into poverty.

Regulations still insufficient to address the health burden of smoking

Above all, the tobacco industry is responsible for nearly one in four premature deaths in Vietnam (23.8%), with tobacco consumption causing the annual death of more than 100,000 people in the country (19,000 of whom are due to second-hand smoke). More specifically, smoking is responsible for nearly 80% of lung cancer deaths, 60% of COPD deaths, and 22% of stroke deaths. Although progress has been made in this area, tobacco product regulations are still insufficient, particularly in terms of advertising, since sponsorship and corporate social responsibility activities are not prohibited in Vietnam.[4]. Furthermore, smoking bans in public spaces remain incomplete, not including, for example, public transport or cafes. Finally, the sale of single cigarettes, mainly targeting younger generations, is not banned, nor is the sale of tobacco on the internet. However, in late November, the Vietnamese National Assembly adopted the ban the production, sale, importation, storage, transportation and use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, starting in 2025.

©Generation Without Tobacco

FT

[1] Vietnam Plus, Vietnam remains among countries with highest smoking rates, 09/12/2024, (accessed 10/12/2024)

[2] World Health Organization, Women and Tobacco in Viet Nam: The Hidden Threat, 16/11/2023

[3] Global Action to End Smoking, State of Smoking and Health in Vietnam, 04/09/2024, (accessed 10/12/2024)

[4] WHO, Country profile: Vietnam, 2023, (accessed 10/12/2024)