Smoking, which had interrupted its decline in France at the time of the Covid-19 crisis, remained generally stable in 2023 with nearly one in three French smokers, even if the share of daily consumers falls, shows a study published Tuesday November 19.
“In 2023, in mainland France, more than three out of ten people aged 18-75 reported smoking”summarizes this study carried out by the Public Health France agency. According to this work, carried out from a survey of some 15,000 people, 31.1% of French people say they smoke, a proportion “generally stable”according to the authors of the study.
Smoking, which largely boils down to cigarette consumption, remains one of the main causes of death in France and around the world, not only from cancer but also from cardiovascular disorders.
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It recorded a clear decline in France at the end of the 2010s, after more than a decade of anti-smoking campaigns, but the movement was interrupted at the time of the Covid crisis, at the start of the 2020s.
Less than a quarter of daily smokers
The figures published Tuesday show that this stagnation continues, even if elements are encouraging, first of all a decline in the share of French people declaring they smoke daily. This decline remains too measured to be notable from one year to the next, but it is indisputable when comparing 2023 to 2021.
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With less than a quarter of daily smokers (23.1%), “this is the lowest prevalence of daily smoking ever recorded among 18-75 year olds since this indicator existed”notes the study.
These figures remain high compared to other countries, such as the United States, where barely more than one in ten Americans now say they smoke cigarettes.
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Some countries are implementing radical plans to combat tobacco, such as the United Kingdom, which plans to ban its sale to anyone born from 2009. France, for its part, presented at the end of 2023 a new plan to combat smoking, notably providing for a pack of cigarettes at 13 euros in 2027, but the current government has for the moment delayed an increase in prices from next year.
