Filenews 13 January 2025
One of the most common decisions smokers make every new year is to quit. As research shows, most New Year's resolutions, the promises we make to ourselves at the beginning of the year, are rarely kept until the end of the year.
On the occasion of decisions taken or violated on smoking cessation, Euronews presented a map of Europe based on which country has the most smokers.
It is noted that a quarter of EU citizens (24%) are smokers. In Cyprus, 29% smoke, the seventh highest percentage in Europe. The heaviest smokers are found in eastern southeastern Europe, with 37% in Bulgaria, 36% in Greece, 35% in Croatia and 34% in Romania.
Sweden has the lowest percentage of smokers (8%), followed by the Netherlands (11%) and Denmark (14%).
Men are more likely to use tobacco products than women (28% vs. 21%). At the same time, 56% say they have never smoked in their lives.
Those with financial difficulties want cigarettes
Young men with financial difficulties are more likely to smoke. The highest concentration of smokers is found in the 25-39 age group (32%), while the lowest rate is among those aged 55 and over. The unemployed are most likely to smoke (40%), followed by manual workers (37%) and managers (20%). The proportion of smokers is higher among those who have difficulty paying their bills (38%) than among those who have never experienced these problems (21%).
Roll-your-owned, packet and electronic cigarette
Cigarette packs remain the most popular, with 77% of smokers opting for them, compared to 23% who prefer roll-your-own cigarettes. Daily consumption varies widely from country to country, with the average being 14 cigarettes per day, a figure that has remained stable since 2020.
Eurobarometer data https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2995 also show that only 3% of people use e-cigarettes.
Smoking remains the biggest avoidable health risk and is responsible for 700,000 deaths per year in the EU alone. In addition, about 50% of smokers die prematurely, on average 14 years earlier than non-smokers.
