Economic burden of smoking: a systematic review of direct and indirect costs

Background: Smoking imposes considerably high economic costs both on the healthcare system as well as on a country as a whole. This study was aimed at systematically reviewing the currently published literature on the direct and indirect costs associated with smoking globally.

Methods: A systematic review was performed on systematically searched articles from PubMed and Scopus databases published during the period 1990 to 2014. A combination of key terms such as "economic burden", "direct cost", "indirect cost", and smoking, tobacco or cigarette" and "productivity lost was used for the search. Original research article published in English with the age of study population greater than 35 years, at least three smoking-related diseases and reported direct or indirect cost of smoking were the inclusion criteria.

Results: Fourteen original articles were included in the review. The cost of outpatient care and premature deaths were found to be the most important cost driver of direct and indirect costs respectively. The study showed that smoking-related diseases were responsible for 1.5 - 6.8 % of the national health system expenditures and 0.22-0.88% of GDP of a country.

Conclusion: Our review indicated that the costs of smoking are substantial, and smoking have a significant impact on the economy of a country. Policies such as increasing the taxation on a cigarette are required and should be implemented to reduce the economic burden of smoking.