Overview of tobacco consumption in metropolitan France

According to the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin published by Public Health in May 2019^[1], France has recorded a drop in the number of smokers for the second consecutive year. In fact, in two years, metropolitan France has had 1.6 million fewer smokers, corresponding to an overall drop of 12%. This decrease is explained both by a greater number of people quitting and by a lower rate of young people starting to smoke.

In the year 2017-2018 alone, the number of smokers decreased by 600,000 people. In 2016, 29.4% of French people aged 18 to 75 smoked daily, compared to 25.5% in 2018.

These figures, although encouraging, remain extremely high compared to the vast majority of other European countries and they should not make us forget that every year, 75,000 people die from their tobacco consumption.

This decline observed over the last two years can be explained by the importance of a coherent public policy aimed at denormalizing tobacco, in particular via plain packaging, regular increases in the price of packets, or even effective communication time allocated to this subject, such as No Tobacco Month, focused on addiction treatment.

Quantity

On average, the French smoke 13 cigarettes per day in 2018, which is slightly less than in 2010, 13.8).

A social marker

Smoking reflects social inequalities. Thus, among the most highly qualified French people (higher than the baccalaureate), 19.4% smoke, while this proportion increases to 28.2% among people with a level of qualification lower than or equal to the baccalaureate). Since 2016, there has been a decrease in this gap, the continuation of which will need to be monitored. It tends to highlight the relevance of the public policies undertaken in recent years and their progressive nature in terms of reducing social inequalities.

Men/women distinction

Every year, the number of tobacco-related deaths among women increases by 5%, due to the increase in smoking among women between 1970 and 1990. However, men remain more regular smokers than women (26.9% daily smokers compared to 22.9%), and in larger quantities (14 cigarettes per day compared to 11.9). Women are also less likely to have attempted to quit in the year preceding the survey.

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