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 2023, Turkey had the highest share of adults who smoked daily in Europe, at almost ** percent. In Ukraine there was also a high prevalence of daily smokers reported at ** percent. On the other hand, smoking is less popular in Nordic countries, with Sweden, Norway, and Iceland having fewer than *** 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 **************. Meanwhile, roughly ****** 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 ** 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 *** percent were daily smokers. Among a slightly higher age group, by the age of ** years, Slovakia held the highest share of youth trying cigarettes in their lifetime at ** percent, with ** 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 ** percent of its students. Nevertheless, smoking has generally declined among European youths over the past decades; down from ** percent of ** year olds smoking in 1999 to ** percent by 2019.

Among the shown European countries, Bulgaria had the highest share of adults who smoked daily as of 2021, at almost ** percent. Furthermore, ** percent of people in Turkey were reported to also be daily smokers in 2021, an increase from the share of smokers in 2011. Conversely, most European countries have decreased in smokers since 2011.

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;

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

Among the shown European countries, Turkey had the highest share of men who smoked daily as of 2023, at over ** percent. France had the highest share of female smokers, with over a ***** of women smoking in the country.

The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) aims at measuring on a harmonised basis and with a high degree of comparability among Member States (MS) the health status (including disability), health determinants (lifestyle) of the EU citizens and use of health care services and limitations in accessing it.

The general coverage of the survey is the population aged 15 or over living in private households residing in the territory of the country.

EHIS was developed between 2003 and 2006. It consists of four modules on health status, health determinants, health care, and background variables (socio-demographic characteristics of the population).

Three waves of EHIS have currently been implemented. The first wave of EHIS (EHIS wave 1 or EHIS round 2008) was conducted between 2006 and 2009 in 17 EU Member States as well as Switzerland and Turkey.

The second wave (EHIS wave 2 or EHIS round 2014) was conducted between 2013 and 2015 in all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Turkey according to the Commission Regulation 141/2013.

The third wave of EHIS was conducted in 2019. All Member States participated in the EHIS wave 3 in accordance with the Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2018/255. A derogation regarding the data collection period was granted for some countries: the data collection period was 2018 for Belgium, 2018-2020 for Austria and Germany, and 2019-2020 for Malta.

The questionnaire consists of the same four modules for all the EHIS waves and over the years, some changes to the questionnaire have been implemented to satisfy specific users’ needs. Also, countries are allowed to include additional questions in the specific submodules or even specific sub-modules in the survey if this does not have an impact on the results of the compulsory variable

EHIS includes the following topics:

Health status
This topic includes different dimensions of health status and health-related activity limitations:

• General health status (Minimum European health module): self-perceived health, chronic morbidity and disability (activity limitation)
• Disease-specific morbidity
• Accidents and injuries
• Health-related absenteeism from work
• Physical and sensory functional limitations (also cognitive limitations in wave 3)
• Difficulties in personal care activities / activities of daily living (such as eating and washing) and help received/needed
• Household activities / Instrumental activities of daily living (such as preparing meals and shopping) and help received/needed
• Pain
• Aspect of mental health (psychological distress and mental well-being in the first wave, depressive symptoms in the second and third waves)
• Work-related health problems (only in the first wave).

Health care
This topic covers the use of different types of medicines and formal and informal health and social care services, which are complemented by data on health-related expenditure, and limitations in access to and satisfaction with health care services:

• Hospitalisation (in-patient and day care)
• Consultations with doctors and dentists
• Visits to specific health professionals (such as physiotherapists or psychologists)
• Use of home care services
• Use of medicines (prescribed and non-prescribed)
• Healthcare preventive actions (such as influenza vaccination, breast examination, cervical smear test and blood tests)
• Unmet needs for health care
• Out-of-pocket payments for medical care (only in the first wave)
• Satisfaction with services provided by healthcare providers (only in the first wave)
• Visits to specific categories of alternative medicine practitioners (only in the first wave).

Health determinants
This topic includes various individual and environmental health determinants:

• Height and weight
• Physical activity/exercise
• Consumption of fruits, vegetables and juice
• Drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks (only in the third wave)
• Tobacco smoking behaviour and exposure to tobacco smoke
• Use of e-cigarettes or similar electronic devices (only in the third wave)
• Alcohol consumption
• Social support
• Provision of informal care or assistance (only in the second and third waves)
• Illicit drug use (only in the first wave)
• Environment (home and workplace exposures, criminality exposure) (only in the first wave).

Background variables on demography and socio-economic characteristics.

All indicators are expressed as percentages within the population and statistics are broken down by age and sex and one other dimension such as educational attainment level, income quintile group, degree of urbanization, country of birth, country of citizenship, level of disability (activity limitation).

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.

The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) aims at measuring on a harmonised basis and with a high degree of comparability among Member States (MS) the health status (including disability), health determinants (lifestyle) of the EU citizens and use of health care services and limitations in accessing it.

The general coverage of the survey is the population aged 15 or over living in private households residing in the territory of the country.

EHIS was developed between 2003 and 2006. It consists of four modules on health status, health determinants, health care, and background variables (socio-demographic characteristics of the population).

Three waves of EHIS have currently been implemented. The first wave of EHIS (EHIS wave 1 or EHIS round 2008) was conducted between 2006 and 2009 in 17 EU Member States as well as Switzerland and Turkey.

The second wave (EHIS wave 2 or EHIS round 2014) was conducted between 2013 and 2015 in all EU Member States, Iceland, Norway and Turkey according to the Commission Regulation 141/2013.

The third wave of EHIS was conducted in 2019. All Member States participated in the EHIS wave 3 in accordance with the Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2018/255. A derogation regarding the data collection period was granted for some countries: the data collection period was 2018 for Belgium, 2018-2020 for Austria and Germany, and 2019-2020 for Malta.

The questionnaire consists of the same four modules for all the EHIS waves and over the years, some changes to the questionnaire have been implemented to satisfy specific users’ needs. Also, countries are allowed to include additional questions in the specific submodules or even specific sub-modules in the survey if this does not have an impact on the results of the compulsory variable

EHIS includes the following topics:

Health status
This topic includes different dimensions of health status and health-related activity limitations:

• General health status (Minimum European health module): self-perceived health, chronic morbidity and disability (activity limitation)
• Disease-specific morbidity
• Accidents and injuries
• Health-related absenteeism from work
• Physical and sensory functional limitations (also cognitive limitations in wave 3)
• Difficulties in personal care activities / activities of daily living (such as eating and washing) and help received/needed
• Household activities / Instrumental activities of daily living (such as preparing meals and shopping) and help received/needed
• Pain
• Aspect of mental health (psychological distress and mental well-being in the first wave, depressive symptoms in the second and third waves)
• Work-related health problems (only in the first wave).

Health care
This topic covers the use of different types of medicines and formal and informal health and social care services, which are complemented by data on health-related expenditure, and limitations in access to and satisfaction with health care services:

• Hospitalisation (in-patient and day care)
• Consultations with doctors and dentists
• Visits to specific health professionals (such as physiotherapists or psychologists)
• Use of home care services
• Use of medicines (prescribed and non-prescribed)
• Healthcare preventive actions (such as influenza vaccination, breast examination, cervical smear test and blood tests)
• Unmet needs for health care
• Out-of-pocket payments for medical care (only in the first wave)
• Satisfaction with services provided by healthcare providers (only in the first wave)
• Visits to specific categories of alternative medicine practitioners (only in the first wave).

Health determinants
This topic includes various individual and environmental health determinants:

• Height and weight
• Physical activity/exercise
• Consumption of fruits, vegetables and juice
• Drinking sugar-sweetened soft drinks (only in the third wave)
• Tobacco smoking behaviour and exposure to tobacco smoke
• Use of e-cigarettes or similar electronic devices (only in the third wave)
• Alcohol consumption
• Social support
• Provision of informal care or assistance (only in the second and third waves)
• Illicit drug use (only in the first wave)
• Environment (home and workplace exposures, criminality exposure) (only in the first wave).

Background variables on demography and socio-economic characteristics.

All indicators are expressed as percentages within the population and statistics are broken down by age and sex and one other dimension such as educational attainment level, income quintile group, degree of urbanization, country of birth, country of citizenship, level of disability (activity limitation).

Revenue in the Tobacco Retailers in Europe industry is expected to contract at a compound annual rate of 1.3% to €37.6 billion over the five years through 2025. 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. Europe’s tobacconists are facing a structural shift. As traditional cigarette sales continue their long decline, retailers are turning to alternative nicotine products, particularly vapes and pouches, to maintain footfall and margins. Regulatory pressure, changing social norms, and the rise of health-conscious consumers are reshaping the industry, forcing tobacconists to rethink their product mix, customer base, and business models. While smoking rates fall, nicotine use is being redefined. The winners in this space will be those retailers who move quickly to align with consumer preferences, regulatory developments, and new product trends. The continued slump in the popularity of smoking contributes to an estimated 0.1% drop in 2025, while profit is anticipated to drop to 8.9% of revenue. Revenue is anticipated to swell at a compound annual rate of 1.3% in the five years through 2030 to €40 billion. Tobacco retailers across Europe face a challenging outlook as regulations tighten and demand shifts. Rising excise duties, smoking bans and licensing rules are reshaping the retail environment, forcing shops to adapt or exit. Generational bans, including the UK's proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill, signal a long-term decline in market size. Retailers must invest in digital systems, diversify product lines and navigate stricter compliance. Larger chains may absorb the impact and consolidate market share, but independent retailers face mounting pressure. Without support or phased implementation, many may struggle to survive. As the EU pushes towards a tobacco-free generation, the sector must rethink its future role or risk becoming obsolete in an increasingly health-driven, regulated market.

The smoking prevalence in Europe was forecast to continuously decrease between 2024 and 2029 by in total *** percentage points. After the eighth consecutive decreasing year, the smoking prevalence is estimated to reach ***** percent and therefore a new minimum in 2029. 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 *** 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).Find more key insights for the smoking prevalence in countries like Caribbean and Worldwide.

BackgroundTobacco consumption is the largest avoidable health risk. Understanding changes of smoking over time and across populations is crucial to implementing health policies. We evaluated trends in smoking initiation between 1970 and 2009 in random samples of European populations.MethodsWe pooled data from six multicentre studies involved in the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts consortium, including overall 119,104 subjects from 17 countries (range of median ages across studies: 33–52 years). We estimated retrospectively trends in the rates of smoking initiation (uptake of regular smoking) by age group, and tested birth cohort effects using Age-Period-Cohort (APC) modelling. We stratified all analyses by sex and region (North, East, South, West Europe).ResultsSmoking initiation during late adolescence (16–20 years) declined for both sexes and in all regions (except for South Europe, where decline levelled off after 1990). By the late 2000s, rates of initiation during late adolescence were still high (40–80 per 1000/year) in East, South, and West Europe compared to North Europe (20 per 1000/year). Smoking initiation rates during early adolescence (11–15 years) showed a marked increase after 1990 in all regions (except for North European males) but especially in West Europe, where they reached 40 per 1000/year around 2005. APC models supported birth cohort effects in the youngest cohorts.ConclusionSmoking initiation is still unacceptably high among European adolescents, and increasing rates among those aged 15 or less deserve attention. Reducing initiation in adolescents is fundamental, since youngsters are particularly vulnerable to nicotine addiction and tobacco adverse effects.

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.

BackgroundSmoking is the main risk factor for most of the leading causes of death. Cessation is the single most important step that smokers can take to improve their health. With the aim of informing policy makers about decisions on future tobacco control strategies, we estimated time and age trends in smoking cessation in Europe between 1980 and 2010.MethodsData on the smoking history of 50,228 lifetime smokers from 17 European countries were obtained from six large population-based studies included in the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) consortium. Smoking cessation rates were assessed retrospectively, and age trends were estimated for three decades (1980–1989, 1990–1999, 2000–2010). The analyses were stratified by sex and region (North, East, South, West Europe).ResultsOverall, 21,735 subjects (43.3%) quit smoking over a total time-at-risk of 803,031 years. Cessation rates increased between 1980 and 2010 in young adults (16–40 years), especially females, from all the regions, and in older adults (41–60 years) from North Europe, while they were stable in older adults from East, South and West Europe. In the 2000s, the cessation rates for men and women combined were highest in North Europe (49.9 per 1,000/year) compared to the other regions (range: 26.5–32.7 per 1,000/year). A sharp peak in rates was observed for women around the age of 30, possibly as a consequence of pregnancy-related smoking cessation. In most regions, subjects who started smoking before the age of 16 were less likely to quit than those who started later.ConclusionsOur findings suggest an increasing awareness on the detrimental effects of smoking across Europe. However, East, South and West European countries are lagging behind North Europe, suggesting the need to intensify tobacco control strategies in these regions. Additional efforts should be made to keep young adolescents away from taking up smoking, as early initiation could make quitting more challenging during later life.

*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.

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

This statistical bulletin presents a range of information on smoking which are drawn together from a variety of sources. The bulletin aims to present a broad picture of health issues relating to smoking in England and covers topics such as smoking habits and behaviours among adults and school children, smoking and pregnancy, European comparisons of smoking prevalence, smoking-related ill health and mortality and smoking-related costs. This bulletin combines data from different sources presenting it in a user-friendly format. Most of the data contained in the bulletin have been published previously including information from the Information Centre, Department of Health, the Office for National Statistics, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the European Commission and the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs. For the first time the bulletin includes information on the economic activity status of adults who smoke, the extent smoking is allowed in people's homes and information on people's views towards the smoking ban in public places. For children, the bulletin now includes data on smoking and substance use, and truancy and exclusion, as well as comparisons for ethnicity and among European countries. In addition to the various costs of smoking included in last year's bulletin, this year some information on smoking related costs to the NHS are also included.

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/

Statistics illustrates consumption, production, prices, and trade of Tobacco (Smoking Tobacco, Chewing Tobacco, Snuff) in Europe from 2007 to 2024.

This feature layer represents Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.a.1 'Smoking Prevalence as Percentage of the Population' for Ireland. Attributes include the percentage of smokers by sex, age and region. This layer was produced using Central Statistics Office (CSO) 2015 Irish Health Survey (IHS) data and NUTS 3 boundary data produced by Tailte Éireann. Note that the NUTS 3 boundary refers to the former Regional Authorities established under the NUTS Regulation (Regulation (EU) 1059/2003). These boundaries were subsequently revised in 2016 through Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2066 amending annexes to Regulation 1059/2003 (more info).

In 2015 UN countries adopted a set of 17 goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to help achieve the goals set out in the agenda by 2030. Governments are committed to establishing national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals and to review progress using accessible quality data. With these goals in mind the CSO and Tailte Éireann are working together to link geography and statistics to produce indicators that help communicate and monitor Ireland’s performance in relation to achieving the 17 sustainable development goals. The indicator displayed supports the efforts to achieve goal number 3 which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.