Some 24% of the Swiss population considers themselves smokers.
Keystone / Christian Beutler
Fewer and fewer people are smoking in Switzerland. In 2022, 24% of the population aged 15 and over smoke, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday.
The proportion of smokers has fallen by 3 percentage points since the last survey in 2017, wrote the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Previously, the proportion had remained stable for a long time. According to the FSO, novel tobacco products or e-cigarettes are particularly popular among younger people: they were consumed by 17% of 15 to 24-year-olds in 2022.
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The differences between the sexes have narrowed. Among men, the proportion of smokers fell by 10% since 1992 to 27% in 2022. Among women, it fell from around a quarter to a fifth in the same period. Among men, the proportion of smokers has fallen in all age groups, particularly among 15 to 24-year-olds. In the 65+ age group, however, the proportion of women smokers has increased.
According to the FSO, the proportion of heavy smokers – 20 cigarettes or more per day – has more than halved in the last 30 years. Among adolescents and young adults in particular, the proportion of heavy smokers has fallen significantly from around a third in 1992 to 5% in 2022.
The level of education appears to influence the smoking rate. The most significant decrease was among people with a university degree or higher vocational training.
Translated from French by DeepL/jdp
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