Brussels, 01/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - As part of World No Tobacco Day on Sunday 31 May, the European Commission published a Eurobarometer on Europeans' attitudes towards tobacco in 2014. The survey reveals a downward trend in tobacco use across Europe. The overall reduction compared with 2012 is 2 percentage points (26% vs. 28%), with notable variations in member states.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, European commissioner for health, said that the new directive on tobacco products sought to reduce the number of smokers and that “the fight against tobacco is not won, particularly amongst the young. It is unacceptable that Europeans continue to be attracted to smoking when they are teenagers”.
The age category that saw the biggest drop was young people aged 15 to 24 (25% vs 29% in 2012). The lowest tobacco consumption rates were recorded in Sweden (11%) and Finland (19%) and the highest in Greece (38%) and Bulgaria (35%). Regarding quitting attempts, a majority of smokers have tried to quit (59%), with 19% having tried in the past 12 months. Regarding e-cigarettes, 12% of Europeans have now tried them, compared with 7% in 2012. 67% said they tried them to reduce or quit smoking. However, only 14% of e-cigarette users were able to stop smoking, indicating that they are not particularly effective as a quitting tool.
Eurobarometer also reveals that the majority of Europeans are in favour of strict policy measures surrounding tobacco and e-cigarettes. For example, 70% are in favour of improving the traceability of tobacco products in order to reduce illicit trade (the theme of this year's World No Tobacco Day), even if it makes the products more expensive. On perceived danger, tar or nicotine levels are considered the highest indication of the level of harm (32%), followed by additives (12%). As for e-cigarettes, the percentage of people surveyed who consider them to be harmful has risen from 27% to 52% in only two years. (Isabelle Lamberty)