The European Statistical Office Eurostat revealed which countries in the European Union smoke the most, SIR (Servizio Informazione Religiosa) reported.
Bulgaria is in first place with the negative ranking in terms of the number of smokers – 37% of the population aged 15 or over smokes. Greece follows with 36% and Croatia with 35%. In Bulgaria, 49% of men aged 15 and over smoke, while the percentage for women is 27.
In 2023, 24% of the EU population smoked, which shows a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to 2017 (26%). Sweden has the lowest proportion of smokers (8%) among the population aged 15 and over, followed by the Netherlands (11%) and Denmark (14%).
Almost half of the male population smokes in Bulgaria (49%), Latvia (48%) and Lithuania (43%). Among women, the highest smoking rates are recorded in Greece (32%), Croatia (30%) and Romania (29%).