How strong is the smoking culture in Europe today?

18 comments

1. Sometimes I feel like every french person smokes. Here in germany a lot of people smoke as well. At least compared to like, canada or something. Vaping is bigger among the teens but in general even a lot of young people smoke

2. I think in Italy, about 20% of the adult population smoke.. that percentage has been falling for many years.

   Vaping is certainly more popular than smoking cigarettes among the young, but even quite a few older people I know have switched to vaping.

   I’d say smoking weed is also more popular among teens than smoking conventional tobacco only cigarettes.

3. I don’t think that there’s a particular smoking culture in Finland but I’ve never smoked so I might just be ignorant. About 12 percent of Finns are daily smokers and the stated objective of the state is to get rid of smoking altogether. It seems like every few years there are new restrictions. Twenty years ago about 25 percent of Finns smoked so it’s slowly getting better.

4. In Spain it surprises me so much the amount of young people who take up smoking. Besides that smoking is still permitted on restaurant and bar terraces and nobody gives two fucks if they light up next to you and blow smoke in your face. They haven’t learnt how to throw butts in the bin either, so there are cigarette butts everywhere in the street

5. In Sweden [snus](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus) has really become the main tobacco product and smoking rates have definitely fallen a lot over the years.

   It’s somewhat better than smoking but it’s still bad for you and highly addictive of course. The main advantage to it I see as a non user is that it doesn’t affect the people around you in the way smoking does.

6. In France it is quite potent. I think 1/3 of the adult population smokes at least occasionally, and living in a big city I rarely walk five minutes without seeing someone smoking (which doesn’t bother me since I also smoke).

   The number of smokers seems to decrease from generation to generation.

   Some of us are also getting a little bit more conscientious about trowing cigarette butts in the bin, especially because they added ashtrays on the garbage bins in the street.

   Ofc if you want to have a drink or eat on the terrasse of a restaurant you’ll be next to smokers who probably won’t care about bothering you, especially in bars.

   I don’t think vaping is preferred to traditional cigarettes in any demographic. I feel like it’s mostly used by peoples who try to stop or want to reduce their consumption.

7. Yeah. Gone is the generation who rolled own cigarette to save pennies, kids running down to the local store to buy a pack of cigarettes, and gone is the generation who smokes under the kitchen fan and yelled to stop fucking with the youngest kid… generation before me, X, really killed the vibe with smoking. It’s almost unheard of any in my age group (86-95) to be smoking. The exemption is smoking when drinking, then is the other way around.

   Suns, well, then we are in a whole different page.

   But I have seen lots and lots of young kids doing what ever it takes to compensate what previous generation have done.

8. Still pretty strong here, although most of my family members quit(I used to be only one who didn’t smoke).

   Kids start here really early, like 8 y.o. and they usually steal cigarettes from family members. When I was around 12 we already had hardcore smokers in class.

   Nowadays there are two groups that smoke(at least what I see all the time) and they are young women and manual laborers, especially factory workers(most common job here). I used to work in factory and when I got out of bus there was literally cloud of smoke from 1000+ people smoking in one spot.

9. Still quite a bunch of people smoke, but it feels it got less and less. Maybe it’s just how much I notice it for a different reason: Until many years ago, smoking was allowed in restaurants and bars. It had a big effect on my perception when this was banned. I never smoked, but the smoke cloud you entered in a cozy bar was somehow part of the atmosphere for me, and I actually missed it when it was banned. By now I couldn’t imagine to be in such a bar for five minutes. Around me most people gave up smoking in the past ten years, and it feels that younger people don’t smoke as much neither. Most cited health reasons and how expensive it got.

10. Smoking in public establishments has of course been banned for years but even in private homes smoking indoors is far less socially acceptable than it was once. The people who do still smoke have to do it outside.

    I still see plenty of people who smoke in their cars though, which I think is rather gross. Sometimes even in company cars (decal on the back window is a dead giveaway) that other people might have to use. Quite disrespectful. Oh, and of course they always flick the cigarette butt out the window too. A cigarette butt takes ten to fifteen years to decompose and can pollute a thousand liters of water.

11. Generally speaking the more south and east you go the more smokers you’ll find. But also the older the more smokers, the wealthier the less smokers, but these are all general trends, and it’s all going down.

12. Nor very strong for daily smoking, but varies with age, region and sosioeconomic background.

    A bit stronger for occasional smoking (at parties)
    A bit stronger for _snus_ as the Swedish also mention in this thread.

    *The numbers: smoking (from 2022)*

    * Daily smokers: 7% (most of them 45 years and older)
    * Occasional smokers: another 7%
    * Daily smokers age 16-24: 2%
    * Occasional smokers age 16-24: another 15%

    Smoking related to education level:
    * Just primary school: 19%
    * College / university: 3%

    Pregnant women: 2% at start of the pregnancy, down to 1% at the end

    Vaping: 1-2%, not any increase

    *The numbers for snus*
    *Daily users: 15%
    *Another 4% occasionally
    *Varies with age, gender and region, more popular with young people

    * Daily users age 16-24: 22%
    * Occasional users age 16-24: another 4%
    The use is increasing

    Source: https://www.helsedirektoratet.no/tema/tobakk-royk-og-snus/statistikk-om-royking-bruk-av-snus-og-e-sigaretter#roykingblantvoksneogunge

13. I think it’s better than it was 10 years ago.
    Thankfully it’s illegal to smoke indoors in most places so you don’t suffocate if you go out with friends. God I hated going to pubs in the winter during college in the early to mid 2010’s. You could not breathe…

    I feel like my generation (millenials) smoke less than the ones before us and even less than gen Z, but that’s because I generally don’t hang out with smokers. With gen z it’s like you said, a fair amount of cigarettes but tonnes of vaping and e-cigarettes.

14. In Austria where I live it’s still quite strong. Smoking indoors was only finally banned in 2019, and tobacco advertising is still very geared towards young people. I’m from the UK so I find it really odd since the UK banned that sort of advertising about 30 years ago.

    I haven’t smoked for over 10 years so I don’t have much of an idea but i think vaping and snus are becoming more popular but smoking in bar and restaurant terraces or gardens is still really common and makes eating outside as a non smoker a bit tricky in the summer.

15. Norwegians get their nicotine from snus, not cigarettes.

    Smoking still exists, but I’d say it’s a bit unusual. I pick up litter, and for every single cigarette butt there are 10 spat-out snus pouches. I find lighters sometimes, and once in a blue moon a disposable vape, but mostly snus pouches.

    Those things are *everywhere*.

16. I feel like it isn’t as prevalent as it used to be over here, but it’s still pretty strong. Recently there was talks of a new law banning people from smoking near schools, hospitals, and even in café/restaurant terraces iirc, and I remember reading a ton of angry smoker comments about said law on social media.

17. It has been declining in Ireland but unfortunately vaping has taken its place and a lot of young people vape. I’d honestly guess that more gen z smoke than millennials – we’d made great progress but in came disposable vapes and a new generation got hooked

18. Quite few people smoke today, and I believe it is still declining. It is mostly associated with edgy teens, white people with poor education, and old people. We have also gotten quite a few restrictions on smoking, making it illegal to smoke in places like the outdoor seating parts of restaurants and public locations like beaches and plazas. Also, all new apartments being built and leases being signed have forbidden smoking