[mc32]

What's odd about this is that women in "richer" countries smoke more on average than women in developing nations, but conversely, when it comes to men, men in developing nations smoke more on average than men in developed countries...

[dyarosla]

This could be explained by women in developing nations simply having the least amount of money out of all of these groups and not be able to afford it- otherwise I could imagine women in developing nations would also smoke more than women in developed nations.

[in_cahoots]

There might also be more of a social stigma against women smoking. In the West smoking amongst women was portrayed as dangerous and sexy, while for men it was just part of a hard day’s work. That sort of marketing would translate better for men than for women in more traditional cultures.

[thorin]

I the UK I've always though smoking always thought smoking was slightly more popular with young women. I always put this down to it seeming "cool" or "rebellious" (to them). It also has a reputation as an appetite suppressant which is more women seem to care more about. I literally only know one or two people here in the provinces that smoke, but there were more in London. There were a good few more when I was at university (20 years ago) but most of those carried smokes because they smoked weed too...