US$6.5 Billion Spent Annually on Cigarettes

Turkish citizens spend an average of US$17 million a day on cigarettes. Therefore, the annual expenditure is US$6.5 billion. The study predicts that 4 million out of the 17 million smokers will lose seven years of their lives and 4 million of them will lose 22 years of their lives. This amounts to a resource loss in Turkey equal to the labor provided by 4 million people who are in the most productive years of their lives. In addition, Turkey spends US$2 billion on health care of 50 different illnesses related to smoking.

The Foundation says the Research also indicates that 52.6 quadrillion Turkish liras are paid annually in domestic debt interest.