The share of individuals who currently smoke cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or a pipe in Greece was around 42 percent in 2020, which makes the Mediterranean country have the highest proportion of smokers in the EU.

Tobacco taxation

In an effort to reduce smoking prevalence among the populace, governments across Europe impose ever-higher tax rates on tobacco, making cigarettes much more expensive for consumers to purchase and hence, compelling them to reduce their consumption. For instance, Finland had the highest cigarette excise tax rate in 2019 at around 68 percent. Other countries like the Netherlands and Germany impose a slightly lower tax rate of 54 and 52 percent, respectively. The German government generated approximately 14.7 billion euros in revenues from tobacco taxation in 2020. With tobacco taxes making up the lion’s share of the price of a pack of cigarettes, European governments hope this will trigger a significant reduction in consumer demand.

To what extent did higher taxes contribute to reducing cigarette consumption in Europe?

With rising tobacco taxation across the European continent in the last years (albeit in varying rates), cigarette consumers have either quit smoking, reduced their intake or switched to e-cigarettes and non-combustible tobacco alternatives. In fact, only 28 percent of individuals consume tobacco in France today, a country once notorious for its prevalent tobacco consumption. This trend has been reflected over the years with a significant drop in the volume of cigarettes annually sold in France: In 2005, more than 54,000 tons of cigarettes were sold, but that figure dropped to nearly 36,000 tons by 2020. During the same time period, the price of the most sold brand of cigarettes in France more than tripled.

As of 2021, Bulgaria had the highest share of adults who smoked daily in Europe, at almost 30 percent. In Turkey there were also a high prevalence of daily smokers reported at 28 percent. On the other hand, smoking is less popular in Nordic countries, with Sweden, Norway, and Iceland have fewer than ten percent of their populations smoking daily. Attempts to quit smoking In a European survey addressed to smokers in 2020, Bulgaria and Romania had the largest share of smokers who reported never attempting to quit smoking, at around three-quarters. Meanwhile, roughly eighty percent of smokers in the United Kingdom attempted to quit smoking in the past. In a separate survey, many smokers in Europe were aware of the cancer risks of smoking and had attempted to cut down on the habit as a result. Overall, young people across Europe were less likely to quit smoking, with 64 percent of those aged 15 to 24 reporting never attempting to quit. Smoking among youth Roughly a third of school students in Lithuania had tried smoking cigarettes by the age of 13, out of whom 3.5 percent were daily smokers. Among a slightly higher age group, by the age of 16 years, Slovakia held the highest share of youth trying cigarettes in their lifetime at 58 percent, with 29 percent having smoked a cigarette within the past month. In almost every European country, more than half of school students surveyed said it easy to obtain cigarettes, with Denmark coming at the top of the list with 79 percent of its students. Nevertheless, smoking has generally declined among European youths over the past decades; down from 26 percent of 16 year olds smoking in 1999 to 10 percent by 2019.

Historical chart and dataset showing European Union smoking rate by year from 2000 to 2022.

EU European Union: Smoking Prevalence: Total: % of Adults: Aged 15+ data was reported at 28.224 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 28.619 % for 2015. EU European Union: Smoking Prevalence: Total: % of Adults: Aged 15+ data is updated yearly, averaging 29.939 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 9 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 36.380 % in 2000 and a record low of 28.224 % in 2016. EU European Union: Smoking Prevalence: Total: % of Adults: Aged 15+ data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under World Trend Plus’s Aggregate: Euro Area and European Union – Table EU.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Prevalence of smoking is the percentage of men and women ages 15 and over who currently smoke any tobacco product on a daily or non-daily basis. It excludes smokeless tobacco use. The rates are age-standardized.; ; World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).; Weighted average;

Among the shown European countries, Turkey had the highest share of men who smoked daily as of 2022, at over 40 percent. France had the highest share of female smokers, with almost a quarter of women smoking in the country.

Historical chart and dataset showing Bulgaria smoking rate by year from 2000 to 2022.

This statistic displays the prevalence of smoking among the EU-28 countries in 2017. This year, 19 percent of respondents said they have never smoked cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or a pipe. Nevertheless, 57 percent are currently smokers. Additionally, the share of individuals who currently smoke cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or a pipe in selected European countries can be found at the following.

The European Union and its Member States have been working to reduce the use of tobacco and related products through a range of measures, including regulating tobacco and related products, restricting the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco and related products, implementing smoke-free environments and running anti-smoking campaigns. The European Commission regularly carries out public opinion polls to monitor Europeans' attitudes to a range of tobacco-related issues. Less than a quarter (23%) of the respondents smoke boxed cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or a pipe, a decrease by three percentage points since 2017. 14% of respondents have at least tried e-cigarettes once or twice, while around one in twenty (6%) say the same for heated tobacco products.

The results by volumes are distributed as follows:

• Volume A: Countries
• Volume AA: Groups of countries
• Volume A' (AP): Trends
• Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries
• Volume B: EU/socio-demographics
• Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics
• Volume C: Country/socio-demographics ---- Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer

This database contains tobacco consumption data from 1970-2015 collected through a systematic search coupled with consultation with country and subject-matter experts. Data quality appraisal was conducted by at least two research team members in duplicate, with greater weight given to official government sources. All data was standardized into units of cigarettes consumed and a detailed accounting of data quality and sourcing was prepared. Data was found for 82 of 214 countries for which searches for national cigarette consumption data were conducted, representing over 95% of global cigarette consumption and 85% of the world’s population. Cigarette consumption fell in most countries over the past three decades but trends in country specific consumption were highly variable. For example, China consumed 2.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cigarettes in 2013, more than Russia (0.36 MMT), the United States (0.28 MMT), Indonesia (0.28 MMT), Japan (0.20 MMT), and the next 35 highest consuming countries combined. The US and Japan achieved reductions of more than 0.1 MMT from a decade earlier, whereas Russian consumption plateaued, and Chinese and Indonesian consumption increased by 0.75 MMT and 0.1 MMT, respectively. These data generally concord with modelled country level data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and have the additional advantage of not smoothing year-over-year discontinuities that are necessary for robust quasi-experimental impact evaluations. Before this study, publicly available data on cigarette consumption have been limited—either inappropriate for quasi-experimental impact evaluations (modelled data), held privately by companies (proprietary data), or widely dispersed across many national statistical agencies and research organisations (disaggregated data). This new dataset confirms that cigarette consumption has decreased in most countries over the past three decades, but that secular country specific consumption trends are highly variable. The findings underscore the need for more robust processes in data reporting, ideally built into international legal instruments or other mandated processes. To monitor the impact of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and other tobacco control interventions, data on national tobacco production, trade, and sales should be routinely collected and openly reported. The first use of this database for a quasi-experimental impact evaluation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is: Hoffman SJ, Poirier MJP, Katwyk SRV, Baral P, Sritharan L. Impact of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on global cigarette consumption: quasi-experimental evaluations using interrupted time series analysis and in-sample forecast event modelling. BMJ. 2019 Jun 19;365:l2287. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l2287 Another use of this database was to systematically code and classify longitudinal cigarette consumption trajectories in European countries since 1970 in: Poirier MJ, Lin G, Watson LK, Hoffman SJ. Classifying European cigarette consumption trajectories from 1970 to 2015. Tobacco Control. 2022 Jan. DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056627. Statement of Contributions: Conceived the study: GEG, SJH Identified multi-country datasets: GEG, MP Extracted data from multi-country datasets: MP Quality assessment of data: MP, GEG Selection of data for final analysis: MP, GEG Data cleaning and management: MP, GL Internet searches: MP (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese), GEG (English, French), MYS (Chinese), SKA (Persian), SFK (Arabic); AG, EG, BL, MM, YM, NN, EN, HR, KV, CW, and JW (English), GL (English) Identification of key informants: GEG, GP Project Management: LS, JM, MP, SJH, GEG Contacts with Statistical Agencies: MP, GEG, MYS, SKA, SFK, GP, BL, MM, YM, NN, HR, KV, JW, GL Contacts with key informants: GEG, MP, GP, MYS, GP Funding: GEG, SJH SJH: Hoffman, SJ; JM: Mammone J; SRVK: Rogers Van Katwyk, S; LS: Sritharan, L; MT: Tran, M; SAK: Al-Khateeb, S; AG: Grjibovski, A.; EG: Gunn, E; SKA: Kamali-Anaraki, S; BL: Li, B; MM: Mahendren, M; YM: Mansoor, Y; NN: Natt, N; EN: Nwokoro, E; HR: Randhawa, H; MYS: Yunju Song, M; KV: Vercammen, K; CW: Wang, C; JW: Woo, J; MJPP: Poirier, MJP; GEG: Guindon, EG; GP: Paraje, G; GL Gigi Lin Key informants who provided data: Corne van Walbeek (South Africa, Jamaica) Frank Chaloupka (US) Ayda Yurekli (Turkey) Dardo Curti (Uruguay) Bungon Ritthiphakdee (Thailand) Jakub Lobaszewski (Poland) Guillermo Paraje (Chile, Argentina) Key informants who provided useful insights: Carlos Manuel Guerrero López (Mexico) Muhammad Jami Husain (Bangladesh) Nigar Nargis (Bangladesh) Rijo M John (India) Evan Blecher (Nigeria, Indonesia, Philippines, South Africa) Yagya Karki (Nepal) Anne CK Quah (Malaysia) Nery Suarez Lugo (Cuba) Agencies providing assistance: Iranian Tobacco Co. Institut National de la Statistique (Tunisia) HM Revenue & Customs (UK) Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement EFD/Département...

Europe’s tobacco product manufacturing industry is undergoing a significant transformation as traditional cigarette consumption declines. For decades, this industry was driven by a steady demand for cigarettes, but changing consumer habits and stringent government regulations are pushing tobacco companies to rethink their strategies. These companies are now diversifying their portfolios, venturing into the production of vaping devices, heated tobacco products and other alternative nicotine delivery systems. Such shifts indicate a proactive adaptation to the evolving market landscape and public health concerns over cigarette smoking. Overall, industry revenue is projected to climb at a compound annual rate of 2.6% over the five years through 2024, including a projected 3.9% drop in 2024 alone to reach €77.6 billion. In response to decreasing smoking rates, major players like Philip Morris International (PMI) are pivoting towards innovation in smoke-free products, with PMI investing heavily in heated tobacco and e-cigarettes. This move is emblematic of the broader industry trend, aiming to capture the rising consumer interest in “healthier” nicotine alternatives. Meanwhile, European governments aren't easing up on their crackdowns on tobacco use. France, for example, has seen a dramatic price hike in cigarette packets as a part of its National Tobacco Control Program. The UK and other EU countries are also implementing stringent measures like plain packaging laws and high duty charges on cigarette sales to deter smoking. These regulatory pressures, together with changing consumer preferences, are reshaping the industry's landscape. Looking ahead, the tobacco industry faces uncertain prospects with potential threats from legislation aiming to phase out smoking altogether in some countries. Finland’s target to become a tobacco and nicotine-free country by 2030 and similar initiatives elsewhere spell a challenging future for traditional tobacco products. However, luxury tobacco segments appear resilient amid these headwinds. High-end cigars and premium cigarettes continue to enjoy prestige and growing demand in markets like Spain. The road ahead for tobacco manufacturers will hinge on their ability to innovate and cater to this shifting consumer terrain towards healthier alternatives and occasional high-quality indulgence. Revenue is projected to slump at a compound annual rate of 2.5% over the five years through 2029 to €87.7 billion.

This data shows the percentage of adults (age 18 and over) who are current smokers.

Smoking is the single biggest cause of preventable death and illnesses, and big inequalities exist between and within communities. Smoking is a major risk factor for many diseases, such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, bronchitis and emphysema) and heart disease. It is also associated with cancers in other organs.

Smoking is a modifiable lifestyle risk factor. Preventing people from starting smoking is important in reducing the health harms and inequalities.

This data is based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS). The percentage of adults is not age-standardised. In this dataset particularly at district level there may be inherent statistical uncertainty in some data values. Thus as with many other datasets, this data should be used together with other data and resources to obtain a fuller picture.

Data source: Public Health England, Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) indicator 92443 (Number 15). This data is updated annually.

The price of cigarettes is substantially different across Europe. As of 2024, the most expensive EU country in which to purchase cigarettes was Ireland, with a pack of 20 cigarettes retailing at 13.25 euros, followed by France at 10.95 euros. Cigarette prices in Europe are driven by the respective taxes imposed within each of the member states and consist of a specific duty per 1,000 cigarettes and an ad valorem rate on the recommended retail. Tobacco taxes Variations in cigarette prices are often a result of the different tobacco taxes across European countries. For instance, in Finland where the price for a pack of cigarettes is relatively high, the tobacco tax makes up more than 70 percent of the price. When comparing cigarette prices to the share of individuals who currently smoke cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, or a pipe in European countries, a general trend is observable. Many of those countries with relatively high cigarette prices have comparably lower shares of smokers. Nonetheless, many other factors can influence smoking behavior, besides prices. For example, many people in a variety of European countries have stated that they smoked more cigarettes due to the coronavirus outbreak. Cigarette consumption in Germany In Germany, the most popular type of cigarettes in Germany are branded cigarettes, followed by fine-cut tobacco. The average price of cigarettes in Germany has continuously increased during the last half of a century. A particularly large increase was noticed between 2000 and 2005. The development of the average price of cigarettes and the tobacco tax in Germany are correlated. Pushing up the price of cigarettes has led to a decrease in the average consumption of (taxed) cigarettes in Germany. In 2000, an average of 382 million cigarettes were consumed per day. By contrast, an average of 175 million cigarettes were smoked per day in 2023.

In 2017, 91 percent of EU respondents said they smoked 20 or fewer cigarettes per day, of which 53 percent smoke an average of more than 10 and the remaining 47 percent said they smoke 10 or less cigarettes per day. Most frequently consumers smoke cigarettes from packs. Smoking in the EURespondents were those who smoke cigarettes and are from the EU-28 member states. Greece had the largest share of smokers in the European Union. Of smokers in Europe, approximately 95 percent started smoking before they reached age 26. Smoking and health in the UKDespite the known Health risks, one in ten women in the UK continue to smoke during their pregnancy. Health risks from smoking are substantial and this can be seen in the rising hospital admissions in the UK which are attributed to smoking.

smoking rate for 2020 was 26.58%, a 0.33% decline from 2019.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li> smoking rate for 2019 was <strong>26.91%</strong>, a <strong>0.01% decline</strong> from 2018.</li>
<li> smoking rate for 2018 was <strong>26.91%</strong>, a <strong>1.16% decline</strong> from 2015.</li>
<li> smoking rate for 2015 was <strong>28.08%</strong>, a <strong>1.74% decline</strong> from 2010.</li>
</ul>Prevalence of smoking is the percentage of men and women ages 15 and over who currently smoke any tobacco product on a daily or non-daily basis. It excludes smokeless tobacco use. The rates are age-standardized.

Revenue in the Tobacco Retailers in Europe industry is expected to contract at a compound annual rate of 3% to €36.4 billion over the five years through 2024. Rising public awareness of the health risks of smoking, driven by intense anti-smoking campaigns by the government, has caused smoking rates and sales to plummet for tobacco retailers. Strong legislation among Western Europe has hit sales hard, while stiff competition from supermarkets and convenience stores has shifted revenue away from specialist tobacco retailers. The addictive nature of tobacco makes demand inelastic and allows businesses to pass on higher prices to consumers, mitigating a sharper slump in revenue through ongoing inflationary pressures in Europe. The legislative environment has also eaten into revenue. For example, a ban on selling menthol-flavoured smoking products in the UK was introduced in May 2020. However, this has only influenced a fraction of the European market. The continued slump in the popularity of smoking contributes to an estimated 2.9% drop in 2024. Revenue is anticipated to swell at a compound annual rate of 3.3% in the five years through 2029 to €42.8 billion. Although some consumers are likely to increase their expenditure on tobacco-related products, continued anti-smoking campaigns and legislation to further ban tobacco advertising will likely result in a slump in total sales. Legislation, primarily coming from Western Europe, should heavily erode much of the industry’s consumer base. Tobacconists will face rising external competition from supermarkets and vaping, which could reduce sales volumes and see profitability fall.

Statistics illustrates consumption, production, prices, and trade of Tobacco (Smoking Tobacco, Chewing Tobacco, Snuff) in Eastern Europe from Jan 2019 to May 2025.

*Adjusted for mother’s age as a continuous variable, and for mother’s education status; All unadjusted values are among participants without missing information on covariates.1Includes daily and occasional current smokers.

The European Commission has published on the eve of World No Tobacco Day a Eurobarometer survey presenting European citizens' attitudes to a range of tobacco-related issues. The general aim of the survey is to assess the prevalence and pattern of tobacco and electronic cigarette use, exposure to smoke in public places, to explore the motivations for smoking, and to help identify measures to reduce the number of smokers in the EU. The recent results are compared to the previous surveys, showing stable use of e-cigarettes (2%) and no decrease in the overall smoking rate in the EU (26%) since 2014. Amongst people aged 15 to 24 the rate has increased from 25% in 2014 to 29% in 2017. #####The results by volumes are distributed as follows: * Volume A: Countries * Volume AA: Groups of countries * Volume A' (AP): Trends * Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries * Volume B: EU/socio-demographics * Volume C: Country/socio-demographics ---- Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: http://www.gesis.org/en/home/

In 2022, the incidence of lung cancer among men in Europe was highest in Hungary at 138.4 per 100,000, while Sweden had the lowest incidence. The incidence of lung cancer recorded among women in Denmark was over 79 per 100,000 population. Across the European Union overall, the rate of lung cancer diagnoses was 94.5 per 100,000 among men and 44.1 per 100,000 among women. Smoking and lung cancer risk The connection between smoking and the increased risk of health problems is well established. As of 2021, Hungary had one of the highest daily smoking rates in Europe, with over a quarter of adults smoking daily in the Central European country. The only other countries with a higher share of smoking adults were Bulgaria and Turkey. A positive development though, is the share of adults smoking every day has decreased in almost every European country since 2011. The rise of vaping Originally marketed as a device to help smokers quit, e-cigarettes or vapes have seen increased popularity among people who never smoked cigarettes, especially young people. The use of vapes among young people was reported to be highest in Estonia, Czechia, and Ireland. The dangers of vaping have not been examined over the long term. In the EU there have been attempts to make ‘vapes’ less accessible and appealing for young people, which would include such things as banning flavors and stopping the sale of disposable e-cigarettes.

Comparing the 126 selected regions regarding the smoking prevalence , Myanmar is leading the ranking (42.49 percent) and is followed by Serbia with 39.33 percent. At the other end of the spectrum is Ghana with 3.14 percent, indicating a difference of 39.35 percentage points to Myanmar. Shown is the estimated share of the adult population (15 years or older) in a given region or country, that smoke on a daily basis. According to the WHO and World bank, smoking refers to the use of cigarettes, pipes or other types of tobacco.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).