Trends in tobacco use in Europe

Tobacco consumption in Europe can be estimated from several sources, including sales statistics and population surveys. The first source provides a reasonable estimate of total tobacco consumption, whereas the second gives estimates of the prevalence of smokers by sex and age. In 1950, daily cigarette consumption by adults in European countries varied between 1.7 in Portugal and 6.9 in Ireland, the corresponding US consumption being 8.9. In 1989, the variation was much smaller, ie, between 3.5 in the Netherlands and 10.1 in Greece. In the countries where consumption was high in 1950, maximum consumption was achieved around 1975, followed by stabilization or reduction. In other countries, where consumption was low in 1950, it is still increasing. In a 1987 European survey, the proportion of current smokers varied between 33% in Portugal and 46% in Denmark. Much of this difference comes from the low prevalence of smoking habits in the adult female population of southern Europe.