Tobacco in numbers

An average cigarette weighs about one gram, while there are about one million cigarettes in a metric ton. Kosovo imports 3.500 metric tons of cigarettes per year and 3.5 billion cigarettes are consumed per year. Meanwhile, the average cost per smoker per year is 1.200 euros. Total annual cigarette spending in Kosovo is approximately 575 million euros.

In the years 2011-2014 I wrote three articles published in Koha Ditore about tobacco and the enforcement of anti-smoking laws in Kosovo. I discussed the suffering caused by tobacco, the wider health concerns, respect for the law, and my personal pain watching my mother’s final years of life, marked by the consequences of her lifelong smoking. I also wrote about the failure of law enforcement and the fact that Kosovars, despite suffering from second-hand smoke, seem too polite to ask smokers to respect smoking-free areas.

I left Kosovo at the end of 2015 and spent the next nine years in the United States. Now I really enjoy being back in Kosovo. However, there are a few things that still bother me. Please forgive me, dear reader, if I sound critical: consider this article as a lover wishing the best for his beloved. Let’s start with a shocking fact: an estimated 3.5 billion cigarettes are consumed in Kosovo each year. A large portion of these cigarette butts end up littering sidewalks, streets, and open spaces. As some of my friends say, “I’m just saying…”

I am writing now because of a recent lunch. A friend and I sat down at a small restaurant near the Jashar Pasha Mosque. Shortly after we ordered, a waiter, resting at a nearby table, lit up a cigarette. As our food arrived, a young man who was finishing his meal at another table also started smoking. A woman soon joined him and took out a cigarette. It was a small space. Perhaps, like many Kosovars who I find very polite, I said nothing. So, here I am, writing instead. This otherwise pleasant restaurant, which is actively violating Kosovo’s anti-smoking laws, is located approximately 200 meters from the Kosovo Assembly, where the laws are made.

Let's look at some data.

Tobacco in Kosovo: The Figures

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Determining the exact annual cigarette consumption in Kosovo is challenging due to different data sources and the possibility of incomplete reporting. However, available statistics provide a general estimate:

• Adult smokers: About 25.7% of adults aged 18-69 in Kosovo are current smokers, with a higher prevalence among men (35.3%) compared to women (15.9%). This suggests about 240.000 smokers.
• Average daily consumption: Among daily smokers, the average number of cigarettes consumed per day is 20.9, with men consuming an average of 23.9 and women 14.7 cigarettes.
• Annual cigarette imports: In 2021, Kosovo imported about 3.500 tons of cigarettes, worth about 87 million euros. (Of course, the “cost” is much higher.)
• While these data provide a snapshot of smoking habits and import volumes, they probably do not fully capture unprescribed or illicit tobacco consumption. Total annual cigarette consumption in Kosovo is likely to be higher than import data suggest.

The cost of smoking

As of 2025, the price for a pack of 20 Marlboro cigarettes in Kosovo is approximately 3.29 euros. Let's look at the figures in more detail:

• An average cigarette weighs about one gram; there are about a million cigarettes in a metric ton.
• Kosovo imports 3.500 metric tons of cigarettes per year.
• Cigarettes consumed per year: 3,500,000,000 (3.5 billion).
• Total packs per year: 175 million (3.5 billion cigarettes @ 20 per pack).
• Average cost per smoker per year: €3.29 x 365 days = €1,200.
• Total annual cigarette spending in Kosovo approximately: €3.29 x 175 million packs = €575 million.

That number – 240,000 daily smokers – and their cost of 575 million euros doesn’t even begin to address the other costs: diseases, years of life lost, and families struggling to put food on the table while sacrificing money for tobacco. Lung cancer, which is often directly linked to smoking, cost Kosovo 138.24 million euros in 2023, according to a World Bank report.

Hope for change

In 1969, I went to my university's medical clinic for a health issue. During the check-up, the doctor asked me if I smoked. I said, "No, just a pipe." The doctor said something like, "Well, pipes don't kill you as fast as cigarettes." I never smoked again.

The purpose of this article is simple:

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• Encourage people not to smoke in the presence of others, and;
• Support stronger law enforcement.

Perhaps members of the Government, in the Assembly just 200 meters away from the law-breaking friendly restaurant mentioned above, will be motivated to improve the implementation of the Law on the Health and Financial Security of Kosovo's Citizens and Guests.

(Rand Engel was a coordinator at Balkan Sunflowers from 1999 to 2015. Much earlier, in 1977, he founded Home Energy Centers, one of the first companies in the US to offer energy auditing, as well as numerous energy-saving products and services.