Costs of smoking-attributable productivity losses in Poland

In Poland smoking poses a severe socioeconomic problem. Not only does tobacco consumption cause an increase in direct medical costs due to the necessity for treatment of smoking-attributable diseases, but it also generates indirect costs due to productivity losses. The aim of this paper was to estimate the annual productivity loss due to smoking in Poland from the societal perspective and to compare the obtained results with the equivalent research in other selected countries (Germany, Sweden, and USA). The assessment was performed by the use of the human capital approach, considering loss of productivity until achieving the retirement age and gross income. Four distinct components of indirect costs of nicotine consumption were included: costs of premature mortality, costs of acquired disability, as well as costs of absenteeism and presenteeism caused by smokers. The costs of smoking-attributable productivity loss within a year amount to more than 15 billion PLN (1 Euro approx. 4 PLN) which is about 402 PLN per capita and 1418 PLN per smoker. This represents about 2.6% of Polish annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is more than in Germany, Sweden, or the USA. This amount clearly shows the enormous socioeconomic burden and suggests the need for taking measures to reduce it.