Germany: Smoking rate jumps by more than nine points in two years

In Germany, more than one in three people are now smokers. The country is seeing a very clear deterioration in its situation, with an increase of more than nine percentage points in the smoking rate compared to the situation before the Covid-19 crisis. However, this increase in the proportion of smokers seems to be sparing the younger generation.

Since 2016, the German Smoking Behaviour Survey (DEBRA) has sought to measure the evolution of smoking prevalence in Germany every two months, based on a representative sample of the country's population.[1].

A “frightening development” for public health

According to the survey, 34.5% of Germans aged over 14 are now daily or occasional smokers, compared to 25.4% in July-August 2020. This development, described as "frightening" by Daniel Kotz, director of Debra and Professor of Medicine at the University of Düsseldorf, could possibly be attributed to the context of confinement and pandemic, which could generate a stressful situation causing a certain number of former smokers to relapse.[2]. However, the authors point out that the worsening smoking situation does not concern the younger generation, which has seen its smoking rate decline since the start of the pandemic. According to the results of the Debra survey, the prevalence of Germans aged 14 to 17 now stands at 8.7%, compared to 10.5% in 2020.

Germany, the worst student in the European Union

According to the 2019 Tobacco Control Scale, Germany is the lowest ranked country out of 36 assessed[3], and is lagging far behind in implementing tobacco control policies, despite ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004. As a result, no tax increases on tobacco products have really been implemented for 15 years, the regulation of smoke-free areas is still particularly lacking, while Germany has long remained the last country of the European Union to allow the tobacco industry to promote its products. This situation, which is explained by the strong influence of the sector in the German political landscape, is characterized by a heavy human toll, since smoking causes the premature, avoidable death of more than 120,000 Germans per year.

FT

[1] Deutsche Befragung zum Rauch Verhalten (Debra), Study, (accessed 08/30/2022)

[2] WDR, Read more about the beginning of the pandemic, 08/27/2022, (accessed 08/30/2022)

[3] The Tobacco Control Scale in Europe, 2019, (accessed 08/30/2022)