I would imagine that a huge swathe of smokers are from the Far East, so called developing countries & Sub Continent.
I saw a report a while back that Smoking in the USA was down as low as 14%? Lets face it short of standing outside (& 20ft from the building) you're options are very limited.
Funnily enough I am in Korea Town most days & there appears to be an inordinate amount of smokers there.

I’m sure you’re right. China accounts for a large percentage but maybe they don’t have the same societal pressure and pricing issues.

In countries where poverty actually exists the health effects of smoking don't tend to be relevant either.

After all, who cares about something that'll kill you in 50 years when you might starve tonight?

I'd never thought about it that way. Maybe having no expectation of long life can have a wider impact on how people live their lives.

It kills you slowly and it's an unpleasant and uncomfortable death, your breathing becomes more difficult as the years pass and because it can be slow it is unnoticeable, then one day you do notice it ..you have a little cough and you also notice that running or walking quickly makes you out of breath, if you manage to stop now you may be able to recover fully, but because tobacco is as powerful a drug as heroin doing that is extremely difficult.

Peoples ability to work and just function normally is hugely reduced long long before they die, COPD is nasty!
Heart failure and stroke is massively increased after ten plus years and increases more hugely as every year passes after ..and also the wonderful cancer ..everywhere! Not just the lungs, people often also have limbs removed if they do survive long enough through damaged circulation, the cost to the NHS is unbelievably ridiculous, you have no idea! ..and I've just scratched the surface!