Russia is rated among the world’s heaviest smoking countries, outranked only by China, India and Indonesia, a new international report revealed on Wednesday.

      About 39 million of 143 million Russians smoked as of 2012, the latest year covered by a global group of researchers for a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. There are 28 million men and 11 million women smoking in Russia.

      Just over half of Russian men smoke every day, or 52 percent, the sixth highest proportion in the world in a list topped by Timor-Leste with 61 percent. However, only about 15 percent of Russian women smoke, according to the study.

      The most smoking country is currently China with some 280 million smoked as of 2012 in a population of 1.35 billion. The United States, with a population of 316 million, was fifth for the number of smokers, with 38 million smokers.

      Recently Russian authorities have taken some measures to improve the situation and reduce the number of smokers in the country. In particular, the new legislation introduced ban on smoking in public places, including schools, hospitals, government buildings and public transport, with big fines for infringement.

      The global number of smokers was estimated in the study at almost 1 billion and the global consumption of cigarettes at 6 trillion.