Nearly 12 million French people still smoke daily

The policy of continuously increasing the price of a pack of cigarettes, combined with awareness campaigns and various alternatives to cigarettes, may not be enough to reduce smoking in France. In any case, this is what we can think of in view of the latest estimates published in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) of Public Health France, as part of World No Tobacco Day. France would still have 15 million smokers, and 12 million daily smokers, i.e. respectively 31.8% and 24.5% of French people aged 18 to 75. Stable figures since 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic. As a reminder, smoking and daily smoking concerned respectively 31.9% and 25.3% of French people in 2021. However, the authors specify: “Raising tobacco prices is an effective measure to reduce the prevalence of smoking. (…) Pricing policy could be an issue for the next tobacco control plan which will be implemented in 2023“.

Strong social inequalities

While an increase in daily smoking had been observed among women aged 18 to 75 between 2019 and 2021, rising from 20.7% to 23%, this now seems to be dissipating, and even more. In 2022, 28.8% of women reported smoking tobacco, and 21.7% reported daily smoking, down slightly from the previous year. Men still smoke more than women, with the prevalence of smoking and daily smoking estimated at 35.1% and 27.4%, respectively. On the other hand, there is no difference – or almost – between men and women regarding occasional smoking, which stands at 7.7% among these gentlemen and 7.1% among their female counterparts.

The BEH of Public Health France nevertheless notes strong social inequalities, in particular according to the level of diploma, income, or professional situation. More than three people with no diploma or a diploma below the baccalaureate in ten (30.8%) say they smoke tobacco daily, compared to 16.8% of French people with a diploma above the baccalaureate. In the same vein, the prevalence of daily smoking ranges from 33.6% among the population with the lowest incomes to 21.4% among those with the highest incomes. The observation is the same if we look at the professional situation. More than 40% of unemployed people aged 18 to 64 say they smoke daily, compared to 26.1% of employed workers and 19.1% of students. Note however that, as for women, the increase in tobacco consumption observed among the least educated between 2019 and 2021 seems to have stopped.

Vaping on the rise since 2016

Like smoking prevalence, the number of cigarettes consumed by daily smokers aged 18 to 75 also remained stable compared to 2019 and 2021, with an average of 12.6 cigarettes per day. In contrast, only a quarter of daily smokers (24.7%) said they had tried to quit for at least a week in the past twelve months, down from last year. “Promoting the effectiveness of the support of a health professional for smokers, and raising awareness among health professionals of the importance of detecting and managing smoking, are essential issues.“, underline the authors of this BEH.

Vaping, meanwhile, has grown significantly since 2016, although the numbers remain flat – or nearly flat – compared to last year. More than four out of ten French people aged 18 to 75 (41.2%) say they have already experienced this type of device in 2022, compared to 38.7% in 2021, while the prevalence of daily vaping is estimated at 5.5 % in 2022, compared to 5% in 2021, and 2.5% in 2016.

*The data used come from a telephone survey conducted by Ipsos on a random sample, conducted between March 2 and July 9, 2022, comprising a total of 3,229 individuals aged 18-75 residing in metropolitan France.