ORIGINAL ARTICLE Trends in tobacco consumption in India 1987–2016: impact of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Rizwan Suliankatchi Abdulkader 1 • Dhirendra N. Sinha 2 • Kathiresan Jeyashree 3 • Ramashankar Rath 4 • Prakash C. Gupta 5 • Senthamarai Kannan 1 • Naveen Agarwal 6 • Deneshkumar Venugopal 1 Received: 2 December 2018 / Revised: 2 May 2019 / Accepted: 14 May 2019 Ó Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) 2019 Abstract Objectives We describe national and subnational trends in tobacco use over three decades in India, assess the impact of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on them and draw inferences for regional tobacco control policy. Methods Data from nine cross-sectional surveys conducted between 1987 and 2016 were analysed. Time trends in gender- and state-wise prevalence were derived for different forms of tobacco. To assess Framework Convention’s impact, relative changes in tobacco prevalence before and after its implementation were estimated. Progress towards global noncommu- nicable diseases target was also measured. Results Post-implementation of the FCTC, smoking and smokeless tobacco use declined by 52.9% and 17.6%, respec- tively. The tobacco product mix (exclusive smokeless/exclusive smoked/dual) underwent a reversal from 37:52:11 in 1987 to 65:22:13 in 2016. Having achieved 20.5% relative reduction since 2009, India is en route to achieving the global noncommunicable diseases target. Conclusions Steep declines in tobacco use have followed the implementation of FCTC in India. However, the impact has been unequal on smokeless and smoked forms. Tobacco-control policies in high smokeless burden countries should take cognizance of this pattern and design comprehensive and flexible policies. Keywords Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Á Smokeless tobacco Á Tobacco smoking Á Trends Á Tobacco control Á India Introduction India is the second largest producer of tobacco in the world with an estimated annual production of 800 million kilo- grams (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-019-01252-x) con- tains supplementary material, which is available to autho- rized users. & Rizwan Suliankatchi Abdulkader sarizwan1986@gmail.com Dhirendra N. Sinha dhirendrasinha1@gmail.com Kathiresan Jeyashree jshreek@gmail.com Ramashankar Rath rsr14585@gmail.com Prakash C. Gupta pcgupta@healis.org Senthamarai Kannan senkannan2002@gmail.com Naveen Agarwal agarwaln@who.int Deneshkumar Venugopal vdenesh77@gmail.com Extended author information available on the last page of the article 123 International Journal of Public Health https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-019-01252-x