20 years ago, around 20 percent of Swedes smoked daily. Today, the spirit is considerably fewer; 5.8 percent.
The goal, which has been set by the Riksdag, is for Sweden to be smoke-free by 2025. In concrete terms, this means that smoking should be below five percent of the population, which according to the World Health Organization WHO is the definition of a smoke-free country.
“Been very good”
It looks like Sweden could become the first country in Europe to reach there, reports the news agency AP.
– We have a tobacco convention that has been ratified in Sweden, i.e. a global set of regulations. There, Sweden has been very good at following it, with, for example, smoke-free environments or that you are not allowed to buy tobacco before 18. But there they could be even better and perhaps raise it to 20, says Tanja Tomson, associate professor of public health sciences at Karolinska the institute.
She also points out that there is “an inequality factor”, where groups with lower education and living in vulnerable areas smoke to a greater extent.
Sniffing increases
A higher proportion of young people (8 percent) also smoke occasionally, according to the national the public health survey Health on equal terms. Snuff use is also increasing, and is most clearly seen among women.
The use of nicotine snuff and e-cigarettes is also most common among young women. Among 16- to 29-year-olds, 12 percent of women stated in 2022 that they snuff daily.
– The frequency has increased significantly among young users who think that this is white after all, I get white teeth and it is not at all that harmful, says Tomson.
Will Sweden then become the first “smoke-free” country in Europe? Maybe, says Tanja Tomson. She takes off opinion campaign “Tobacco Endame”which is based on the proposal that daily smoking should be below 5 percent of the population by 2025.
– If some of these powerful measures take place, I believe in it.
See which countries in Europe smoke the least and the most in the video above.