Consumption and perception of tobacco and nicotine products in the EU

The Eurobarometer survey dedicated to “attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco and nicotine products, published in June 2024, provides a set of data on consumption, attitudes and beliefs of citizens of the 27 member states of the European Union, on all tobacco and nicotine products.

For this survey, a representative sample of 26,358 people aged 15 and over was questioned between May and June 2023, including 1003 French and 1038 Belgians.[1].

State of consumption

Consumption of tobacco and nicotine products

According to the Eurobarometer, 25% of Europeans indicate that they consume a tobacco or nicotine product at least once a month. Bulgaria (38%), Greece (37%) and Croatia (36%) have the highest prevalences in the European Union. Conversely, Sweden records the lowest prevalence, with less than 10% of occasional or daily users (9%), followed by the Netherlands (12%) and Denmark (15%). Along with Portugal, Belgium has the seventh lowest prevalence in the entire European Union (21%), while France is characterized by the highest level of consumers within Western Europe ( 30%).

Smoking prevalence

The survey estimates that the European Union has 24% tobacco users, daily or occasional. Bulgaria (37%), Greece (36%) and Croatia (35%) again record the highest prevalence, while Sweden has the lowest rate of smokers (8%). Overall, smoking prevalence has fallen by one point in the European Union since the last survey carried out in 2020. In the same time interval, eleven Member States have seen their smoking prevalence decline, while a number identical number of countries have recorded an increase in consumption, and five do not observe any change. The Czech Republic stands out for the greatest reduction in its smoking prevalence, going from 30% to 23% in three years. Conversely, with respective prevalences estimated at 32% and 25%, Estonia and Austria report an increase of seven points. In France, smoking prevalence fell by one point (27%), while it remains at an equivalent level in Belgium (21%).

Regular tobacco consumption before age 18

On average, in the European Union, 55% of current smokers surveyed indicated that they had used tobacco regularly before the age of 18. Of the 27 Member States, only nine have a majority of smokers who became regular users after turning 18. These figures demonstrate the pediatric nature of the tobacco epidemic, and implicitly underline the strategies of targeting of young people by the tobacco industry.

Daily consumption and tobacco products consumed daily

According to survey figures, 86% of tobacco consumers are daily smokers. Among the smokers questioned, 69% reported consuming manufactured cigarettes daily, and 18% rolling tobacco. Daily consumption of cigarillos, cigars and pipes only concerns 1% of smokers respectively. In France and Belgium, respectively 72% and 84% of smokers are daily consumers. Daily consumption of manufactured cigarettes concerns 53% of Belgian smokers and 60% of French smokers, while that of rolling tobacco is reported by 22% of consumers in Belgium and 27% in France. In both countries, 2% smokers consume cigarillos on a daily basis, and 1% cigars.

Volumes consumed daily

On average, respondents reported consuming 14 units of tobacco per day across the European Union. In total, 8% of tobacco users reported consuming the equivalent of more than one packet per day (more than 20 units of tobacco). Finland and Sweden recorded the lowest average consumption volumes, with 10 units of tobacco consumed daily. Respectively, only 3% and 2% of smokers in these two countries reported smoking more than one packet per day. Conversely, Greece is the Member State where smokers report having the highest daily consumption, with 18 units of tobacco per day, followed by Bulgaria, Romania and Austria (17 units). In the latter, 23% of smokers reported smoking on average more than one packet per day. With 12 units of tobacco per day, the volumes consumed in France and Belgium are below the European average. Finally, 5% and 6% of consumers in these two countries report smoking the equivalent of more than a pack per day.

New and other tobacco and nicotine products

Consumption of electronic cigarettes

During the survey in 2023, 3% of all respondents declared that they were consumers of electronic cigarettes, two points more than in 2020. Estonia and Latvia are among the European Union countries where these devices are the most used, with a prevalence of 9% and 8% respectively. Conversely, Portugal shows a consumer rate lower than 11TP3Q. In France and Belgium, the prevalence is estimated at 7% and 4%, an increase of one point since 2020.

Among the people who indicated that they were consumers of electronic cigarettes, 67% mentioned consuming devices with a refillable tank with liquid at least once a month (42% in Belgium, 79% in France). These same consumers are also 24% consuming electronic cigarettes at least once a month pods in the European Union (34% in Belgium, 9% in France), and 24% disposable electronic cigarettes – also called puffs (61% in Belgium, 13% in France).

Consumption of heated tobacco

Heated tobacco consumption remains at relatively low levels in the European Union (2%), although it can reach a prevalence of 5% in Portugal, Cyprus and Lithuania. The Belgian prevalence is estimated at 1%, while France, Sweden, Finland, Malta and Denmark have residual consumption (rounded to 0%). The average volume consumed by heated tobacco users, estimated at 12 sticks per day in the European Union, varies greatly between Member States, ranging from 4 for Sweden and Belgium to 17 for Greece.

Consumption of nicotine sachets

Recently appearing on the European market, only eight countries at the time of the study reported consumption of nicotine sachets: Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Finland , Sweden. The latter stands out for its higher consumption than other countries, with 6% of daily consumers, and 9% of daily or occasional consumers. This situation is explained by the fact that Sweden is the country in the European Union where snus is consumed in the traditional way, explaining the greater acceptance of nicotine sachets in the country, whose consumption methods are similar.

Snus, chewing tobacco and snorting tobacco

These products do not fall into the category of new tobacco products, and their consumption remains at low levels and concentrated in six countries. Sweden, the only country where the marketing of snus is legal within the European Union, registers 12% of consumers of one of these three tobacco products. In other countries, consumption is at relatively residual levels: Austria (6%), Italy (3%), Finland (2%), Denmark and Malta (1%).

Advertising exposure, product attractiveness and representation

Electronic cigarettes

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On average across the European Union, 20% of respondents surveyed by investigators reported being exposed to e-cigarette advertisements. These results, however, differ greatly depending on the Member States, since 2% of respondents in Portugal and 4% in Romania report such exposure, while the latter was reported by 42% of Swedish respondents, and 35% of Slovak respondents. In Belgium, 18% of respondents indicated that they had been exposed to advertising for electronic cigarettes. In France, this proportion reaches 31% of respondents, while advertising for these products is illegal, with the exception of strictly informative posters at the point of sale, not visible from the outside.

Attractiveness

However, e-cigarettes are seen as attractive devices by only 5% of respondents from the European Union. This attractiveness is most emphasized by respondents in Romania (15%) and Malta (14%), while only 1% of Dutch and Swedish respondents believe that electronic cigarettes are attractive. In France and Belgium, this proportion reaches 5%.

Representation and withdrawal

Overall, 12% of respondents believed in 2023 that electronic cigarettes are a smoking cessation aid, a decline of four points since the last survey in 2020. In Italy, nearly one in four respondents consider that electronic cigarettes are a tool to help you quit, a decline of fifteen points compared to the previous survey. In Belgium and France, this proportion reaches 19%, falling by 6 and 7 points respectively since 2020. This representation is not very shared in Latvia and Portugal (6% of respondents).

Tobacco to heat

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Across the European Union, 30% respondents said they had been exposed to one or more advertisements for heated tobacco. This proportion reaches up to 52% of the population in Romania. In France, 14% of respondents claim to have been exposed regularly, from time to time or rarely, to these advertisements, compared to 23% in Belgium. However, tobacco advertising is prohibited in these two countries.

Attractiveness

Only 3% of respondents consider heating tobacco attractive. These results vary greatly, however, since this attractiveness is highlighted by 16% of respondents in Romania, but by only 1% of respondents in seven Member States, including Belgium and France.

Representation: withdrawal and risk reduction

In total, 8% of respondents in the European Union think that heated tobacco is a device to help quit smoking. This proportion reaches up to 19% of respondents in Italy and 18% in Finland, compared to only 5% in France and 7% in Belgium.

It is also interesting to note that the strategy of exploiting the notion of risk reduction by manufacturers seems to have a certain effectiveness, since 32% of consumers of heating tobacco in the European Union indicated that they had started using these products in because of their supposed less harmfulness. However, no independent evidence shows that the consumption of heated tobacco is accompanied by a reduction in risks for the smoker. This argument of less harmfulness is mentioned by 46% of French consumers and by 9% of Belgian consumers, as a reason explaining their introduction to heated tobacco.

A majority of polyconsumers

The results of the survey seem to confirm that heating tobacco cannot be considered as a smoking cessation tool. In fact, across the European Union, 31% consumers of heating tobacco indicated that this new tobacco product allowed them to stop smoking traditional tobacco products. However, 6% mentioned that heating tobacco allowed them to only temporarily stop using traditional tobacco. For 24% of the respondents, heating tobacco simply allowed them to reduce the consumption of traditional tobacco, while 34% of heating tobacco users consider that their consumption of traditional tobacco has not changed. The survey even shows that 2% of heating tobacco consumers report an increase in their consumption of traditional tobacco. In other words, 69% users of heated tobacco continue to smoke traditional tobacco products, thus exposing themselves to a double risk.

Nicotine sachets

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The results show that 16% of respondents in the European Union say they have been exposed to advertisements for nicotine pouches. This proportion varies greatly between Member States, ranging from 5% for the Netherlands to 44% for Sweden. In France and Belgium, these proportions reach 9% and 14% respectively. The commercial and advertising strategies in favor of these products are regularly pointed out by the National Committee against Smoking, which calls for a ban, as has been implemented in Belgium.

Attractiveness

Only 1% of respondents from the European Union believe that these products are attractive. This proportion remains relatively low in all Member States, ranging from 4% in Romania and Slovakia to 0% for France, Greece and Denmark.

Exposure to passive smoking

The survey also focuses on the exposure of populations to passive smoking, in places of collective use. These tables below summarize the results, presenting the proportion of the population having indicated being exposed to passive smoking during the six months preceding the survey, in each of the following configurations.

[1] European Union, Attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco and related products, June 2024, (accessed 07/24/2024)