Ten Year Progress Report Finds Pakistan’s Tobacco Use Rates Down, Highlights Need for Continued Commitment to Tobacco Control

Ten Year Progress Report Finds Pakistan's Tobacco Use Rates Down, Highlights Need for Continued Commitment to Tobacco Control

Statement of Maheen Malik, Director of South Asia Programs, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
June 03, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The results of a newly released survey on adult tobacco use in Pakistan show that tobacco use among Pakistanis aged 15 and up experienced a relative decline of more than 15 percent between 2014 and 2024. The data shows that Pakistan's tobacco control policies including recently increased tobacco taxes, are working to reduce tobacco use, saving lives and health care dollars.

The results were released as part of Pakistan's Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), a global standard protocol for monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators. The latest survey compares data from 2014 to 2024, showing significant areas of progress in improving public health across Pakistan.

According to the latest GATS, exposure to tobacco advertising decreased and smokers reported almost a doubling in the cost of their cigarettes since the 2014 survey, reflecting policies restricting advertising and recent tax increases. Additionally, exposure to secondhand smoke decreased in several places including workplaces, schools and government buildings, but overall rates of exposure remain high in public transportation, restaurants and workplaces.

The results demonstrate meaningful change, but show that Pakistan can further strengthen and expand its policies on smoke-free spaces to protect people from secondhand smoke - a deadly mixture of more than 6,000 chemicals including many that cause cancer even in those who do not smoke.

Pakistan has joined nearly every country in the world in signing the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), a public health treaty that obligates signatories to introduce proven measures to drive down rates of tobacco use, including 100 percent smoke-free public places. It is urgent that Pakistan continue to adopt and fully implement the evidenced-based, lifesaving measures called for by the WHO FCTC including increased tobacco taxes, bans on tobacco advertising, large warning labels on tobacco products and smoke-free spaces.

Pakistan's latest GATS results paint a promising picture of what sustained government commitment to public health can achieve. Now is the time to redouble these efforts to help provide a healthier future for all Pakistanis.