‘The simplest way to see this is to look at the magnitude of the damage caused by four products: tobacco, fossil fuels, alcohol, and food,’ the expert told\u00a0El Pais<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘We estimate that these four products alone cause between one-third and two-thirds of all global deaths.’<\/p>\n In 2021, 19 million of the 56 million deaths worldwide were due to those four industries alone.<\/p>\n Tobacco tops the list as the deadliest product.\u00a0<\/p>\n This alone\u00a0caused 16 per cent of all deaths in 2021 – killing over nine million people.<\/p>\n However, Professor Gilmour warns that the dangers of these products remain poorly understood.\u00a0<\/p>\n At least a third of deaths around the world are due to just four products, according to a leading scientist. Can you guess what they might be? (stock image)<\/p>\n Tobacco is the deadliest of all products, causing 16 per cent of all deaths worldwide and killing over nine million people each year (stock image)\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Tobacco\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, smoking, chewing tobacco, and second hand smoke collectively kill more people than any other product.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Two out of three smokers will eventually die from smoking. It’s so risky,’ Professor Gilmour said.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Would they jump from the fourth floor of a building? No, because it’s too risky.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘But smoking is generally taken up in youth, when the risks aren’t fully understood.’<\/p>\n Smoking tobacco leads to increased rates of cancer, heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, blood clots, and respiratory illnesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tobacco is responsible for 20 per cent of the deaths caused by non-communicable diseases, illnesses that don’t spread from person to person, each year.<\/p>\n In Europe, a study co-authored by Professor Gilmour found that tobacco is responsible for 1.15 million deaths each year – or 10 per cent of the total.<\/p>\n Alcohol is also linked to an exceptionally high number of deaths around the world (stock image)<\/p>\n The four products that cause a third of all deaths <\/p>\n Professor Gilmour, an expert on the harms of smoking, says: ‘Smoking is highly addictive.\u00a0And we know that tobacco companies manipulate cigarettes to make them more addictive.’<\/p>\n Professor Gilmour adds that she would recommend smokers ‘do everything they can to quit’.<\/p>\n 2. Alcohol<\/p>\n Alcohol is also linked to an exceptionally high number of deaths around the world.<\/p>\n Worldwide, 2.44 million people die due to alcohol use every year.<\/p>\n That represents 4.3 per cent of all deaths and 4.4 per cent of all deaths caused by non-communicable diseases.<\/p>\n Alcohol is also involved in a disproportionately high number of deaths caused by accidents and injuries.<\/p>\n According to the Global Burden of Disease estimates, seven per cent of all deaths caused by injury involved alcohol.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ultra-processed foods containing high amounts of salt, sugar, and processed meat are jointly responsible for 3.07 million deaths worldwide each year<\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n 3. Food<\/p>\n Perhaps surprisingly, food is an even more common cause of premature death than alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n Around the world, 5.4 per cent of all deaths were caused by ‘dietary risk’ in 2021 – equivalent to over three million people.\u00a0<\/p>\n This includes risks caused by diets high in processed meat, sodium, ‘sugar-sweetened beverages’, and trans fatty acids.<\/p>\n Diets high in salt lead to the most deaths, followed by diets high in processed meat.<\/p>\n In Europe, where more granular data is available, 2.27 per cent of all deaths were caused by eating too much salt while 1.06 per cent were linked to processed meat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Unhealthy diets are one of the biggest risk factors for developing chronic disease.<\/p>\n Poor diet or obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular conditions, high blood pressure, strokes, and certain cancers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Air pollution created by burning fossil fuels is responsible for approximately 8.34 million deaths every year. Pictured: New Delhi enveloped by morning smog<\/p>\n Yet, despite the well-documented risks of poor diet, Professor Gilmour says food products are ‘manipulated to make them increasingly desirable, almost addictive.’<\/p>\n 4. Fossils fuel<\/p>\n Setting aside the well-documented risks of climate change, fossil fuels are already leading to a measurable increase in deaths.<\/p>\n This is because particulate pollution from burning fossil fuels creates serious health risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prolonged exposure to air pollution leads to increased rates of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer.<\/p>\n The Global Burden of Disease estimates that air pollution from fossil fuels led to 4.5 million deaths in 2021 but other estimates are much higher.<\/p>\n A recent study found that air pollution has led to 8.34 million deaths each year worldwide, largely by causing an increased risk of pulmonary heart disease.<\/a><\/p>\n This means that fossil fuels contribute to between five and eight per cent of all worldwide deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Europe, where rates of air pollution are lower, the WHO estimates that burning fossil fuels causes 578,900 deaths every year<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"At](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/99634099-14838333-image-a-31_1750679187759.jpg\")
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