Smoking in South Korea

Smoking in South Korea has decreased overall for both men and women in the past decades. However, a high prevalence of tobacco use is still observed, especially with the rise of novel tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products. There are socioeconomic inequalities in smoking prevalence according to gender, income, education, and occupational class.[1] Advocates call for measures to reduce the smoking rates and address smoking inequalities using a combination of monitoring and tobacco control policies. These measures include significant price hikes, mandatory warning photos on cigarette packs, advertising bans, financial incentives, medical help for quitting, and complete smoking bans in public places.[2]

In 2021, the smoking rate for Koreans over 19 was 19.3%, a record low.[3][4] That year, 31.3% of men and 6.9% of women were smokers.[3] A 2022 study reported that this was a 50% decrease from 20 years ago.[5]

  1. ^ Chang, Youngs; Kang, Hee-Yeon; Lim, Dohee; Cho, Hong-Jun; Khang, Young-Ho (2019-09-18). "Long-term trends in smoking prevalence and its socioeconomic inequalities in Korea, 1992–2016". International Journal for Equity in Health. 18 (1): 148. doi:10.1186/s12939-019-1051-x. ISSN 1475-9276. PMC 6751588. PMID 31533732.
  2. ^ "10년만의 담뱃값 2000원 인상.."흡연률 29%로 낮추겠다"". newstomato.com.
  3. ^ a b "National Tobacco Control Center | At a Glance: Tobacco Control in Korea | Prevalence of tobacco use". nosmk.khepi.or.kr. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  4. ^ "Cigarette sales in Korea fall for 1st time in 4 years in 2023". The Korea Times. 2024-01-31. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  5. ^ Kim, Suyong; Kim, Gilyong (2022). "The Prevalence of Smoking and Its Implications for Tobacco Control Polices in South Korea". 한국보건사회연구원 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-07-15.