Smoking is a dying habit. not in germany

Public health officials in Germany are sounding the alarm over a unexpected increase in cigarette consumption -even among young people- which began following the confinements due to Covid-19.

Germany’s overall smoking rate was just over 34% in July, according to the most recent results from Debra, a bimonthly survey funded by the German Health Ministry. In March 2020, the rate was 26.5%. The percentage of Germans aged 14 to 17 who report smoking cigarettes rose to 15.9% in 2022 from 8.7% in 2021, according to Debra.

This makes Germany an exception among other developed countries. Other European countries, including Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands, have seen steady declines in smoking rates, said Rüdiger Krech, director of health promotion at the World Health Organization.

“This leaves us very perplexed” , said. “In many areas of public health and healthcare systems, Germany is doing very well. This is an exception here. »

Among a host of possible factors, Krech and other experts said disruptions to work and social rhythms linked to the pandemic could encourage people to spend more time at home where smoking is not prohibited.

In the USA, Cigarette sales have picked up after a year of decline after a brief hiatus during the pandemic. A survey found that 4% of US 12th graders smoked cigarettes in 2022, about the same level as in 2021 and below pre-pandemic levels. The smoking rate among American adults in 2021 fell to 11.5%, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The French Ministry of Health reported in May that 24.5% of adults surveyed smoked daily in 2022, roughly the level in 2019. A European Union-sponsored survey in 2019 found that more Germans smoked daily than their European neighbours.

Alexander Dumser, 16, from Bavaria in southern Germany, said he started smoking late last year. For him, it is a social activity, usually associated with the consumption of alcohol.

“I think it’s just part of the times. Now is the time to experiment,” he said. There isn’t a lot of stigma around smoking among peers in suburban Munich, she said, and it’s usually possible to buy cigarettes in a store without anyone checking to see if you have more. 18, the minimum age to buy tobacco products in Germany.

The country’s public health experts are now urging the government to raise taxes on cigarettes to drive up prices. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in Germany was around 6.65 euros in 2022, according to industry data, which equates to around $7.26. The price in Germany is lower than in France and the UK, but more than double that in neighboring Poland. In some parts of the United States, a pack of cigarettes costs up to $15.

Daniel Kotz, a Düsseldorf-based epidemiologist who led the Debra study, said he believed relatively low prices and lax smoke-free policies set the context for post-pandemic recovery. One of the reasons for this increase could be the restoration of freedom after many social activities were restricted during the Covid-related lockdowns.

More data will be available later in the year, but Kotz suspects the level will remain above its pre-pandemic base.

“It is very concerning because we will have another generation of people addicted to nicotine and tobacco,” he said.

Part of what drives people to smoke is social controls broken during the pandemic when people started working from home, said Heino Stöver, an addiction specialist at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

“I’ve seen in many Zoom conferences people smoking when I never thought they were smoking,” he said.

In Germany you can still buy cigarettes from vending machines in supermarkets and pharmacies. Mandatory labels warn users that smoking is deadly, but these markings are often displayed at checkouts. Smoking rates are lower in countries where it’s harder to buy and advertise tobacco products, Stöver said.

A spokeswoman for the federal health ministry said reducing smoking and protecting young people were urgent policy goals. In 2020, the government banned outdoor advertising for tobacco products . In 2021, lawmakers approved a multi-year cigarette tax increase totaling about 50 cents per pack and imposed new taxes on new products including heated tobacco and e-cigarette refills.

Krech and Laura Graen, associate at the German Cancer Research Center, said the increase in the tax rate has not kept pace with inflation, which is higher in Germany than in many of its neighbors Europeans. They urged Berlin to raise prices further and pressure states to ban smoking in more public places. Smoking has been banned on public transportation and in federal office buildings since 2007 and restricted in workplaces since 2004. Each state is free to enforce restrictions in bars, clubs and restaurants.

Jan Mücke, executive director of BVTE, a tobacco lobbying association, called the additional restrictions condescending and warned that raising cigarette taxes would push people into illicit markets .

Mücke also questioned the quality of Debra’s data, whose survey of 2,000 people he says does not include a large number of teenagers. He pointed to a separate government survey from 2021 which found 6.1% of 12 to 17 year olds smoked.

Federal tax data for 2022 showed that the number of cigarettes sold fell that year by 8.3% from 2021 levels. The same tax report found a 0.9% increase in the amount of tobacco finely chopped, used for rolling cigarettes. The report did not capture data on cigarettes sold in other countries.

Kilian Grewminger, a 24-year-old sociology student, said he started smoking as soon as he arrived at university and increased the number of cigarettes each day during the lockdowns because he could attend seminars from his home.

His pricing has remained at the highest level, and he recently started rolling his own cigarettes when the cost of buying packs became prohibitive.

“It’s getting too expensive for young people,” he said.