Russia Smoking Rates: Chechnya Lowest, Far East High
The Chechen Republic has the lowest prevalence of smoking in Russia at just 0.2%, followed by Ingushetia (6.17%) and Kabardino-Balkaria (10.31%), according to March 2025 data from the Central Research Institute for Organization and Informatization of Health (CRIOI) of the Russian Ministry of Health. Other regions with low smoking rates include Karachay-Cherkessia (11.18%) and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (11.58%).
Conversely, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast reported the highest smoking prevalence at 34.38%, followed by Amur Oblast (28.78%), the Republic of Buryatia (27.70%), the Tyva Republic (27.13%), and the Altai Republic (26.91%).
Retail sales data for cigarettes and papirosy (traditional Russian cigarettes) per capita for January-February 2025 also showed extremely low figures in Chechnya and Ingushetia (effectively zero), Dagestan (0.02 thousand units), Kabardino-Balkaria (0.05 thousand units), and North Ossetia-Alania (0.06 thousand units). The highest per capita retail sales were observed in Far Eastern regions like Magadan Oblast (0.34 thousand units), Kamchatka Krai (0.30 thousand units), and Sakhalin Oblast (0.30 thousand units).
Overall, the prevalence of tobacco smoking among those aged 15 and over in Russia saw a slight year-on-year increase from 18.48% in March 2024 to 18.50% in March 2025. However, there was a 1% decrease from February 2025 (18.68%) to March 2025. Annual Rosstat data indicates a general downward trend in smoking prevalence since 2019, falling from 23.2% to 18.6% in 2024.
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