According to fresh Eurostat data from 2025, 16.5 percent of people aged 16 and older in the European Union smoke cigarettes or similar products daily, marking a slight drop from 2022. <\/p>\n
In 2025, 16.5 percent of individuals aged 16 and above in the EU smoked cigarettes or similar products\u2014such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, or heated tobacco items\u2014on a daily basis. This is a slight decrease compared to 2022, when daily smoking was declared by 17.5 percent. The majority of individuals, 77.5 percent, stated they did not use such products or had not used them within the 12 months preceding the survey.<\/p>\n
Data shows that 20.8 percent of men smoked daily, compared to 12.6 percent of women. Both percentages dropped slightly compared to 2022, when such behavior was declared by 22.2 percent of men and 13.1 percent of women.<\/p>\n
When broken down by age groups, the highest proportion of daily tobacco and tobacco product users was recorded in the 35\u201349 age group at 21.3 percent, followed by the 25\u201334 age group at 19.9 percent and the 50\u201364 age group at 19.8 percent. The lowest percentages were recorded in the youngest and oldest age groups, at 12.1 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n
Among EU countries, the highest percentage of daily tobacco and tobacco product use among people aged 16 and older was recorded in Bulgaria at 26.3 percent, Sweden at 23.9 percent, and Croatia at 23.6 percent. Greece and Cyprus also recorded over 20 percent of daily smokers, at 22.6 percent each.<\/p>\n
The lowest percentages were recorded in the Netherlands at 9.9 percent, Ireland at 11.7 percent, Belgium at 13.6 percent, and Luxembourg at 13.8 percent. Poland and several other nations also fell below the European Union average.<\/p>\n
In 17 EU countries, the percentage of people using tobacco and related products daily dropped between 2022 and 2025. The largest decreases were recorded in Spain and Luxembourg, down by 2.1 percentage points each. Meanwhile, the largest increases were recorded in Croatia and Lithuania, up by 2.7 percentage points each.<\/p>\n
As indicated by the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, tobacco smoking is the primary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Smokers also experience respiratory infections, asthma, and respiratory failure more frequently.<\/p>\n
One of the most serious consequences of smoking remains lung cancer. Studies indicate that approximately 85 to 90 percent of cases of this disease are linked to tobacco use. The risk of contracting the illness increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the duration of the addiction. Tobacco smoking also increases the risk of developing many other cancers beyond lung cancer.<\/p>\n
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies tobacco smoke as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning it has a confirmed carcinogenic effect on humans. An increasing number of studies also examine the impact of new nicotine products on oral health. Analyses indicate that using nicotine pouches can lead to changes in the oral mucosa, including leukoplakia and precancerous lesions.<\/p>\n
Passive smoking also poses a serious threat. Tobacco smoke contains toxic and carcinogenic substances that increase the risk of heart disease, cancer, and respiratory ailments. The World Health Organization estimates that more than one million people worldwide die each year due to secondhand smoke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to fresh Eurostat data from 2025, 16.5 percent of people aged 16 and older in the European Union smoke cigarettes or similar products daily, marking a slight drop from 2022. Daily Smoking Rates in the EU In 2025, 16.5 percent of individuals aged 16 and above in the EU smoked cigarettes or similar products\u2014such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}