While the WHO is organizing World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, the France still has nearly 12 million daily smokers among 18-75 year olds. After a decline of unprecedented magnitude between 2016 and 2019, smoking has stabilized in the country, but inequalities are strong depending on the social environment, according to the results of a study published Wednesday by Public Health France.

In 2022, in metropolitan France, nearly one-third of people aged 18-75 reported smoking (31.8%), a quarter (24.5%) daily. The increase observed among women between 2019 and 2021 does not appear to be continuing.

A correlation with the level of diplomas

After a decrease in daily smoking on an unprecedented scale between 2016 and 2019 (from 29.4% to 24.0% in metropolitan France), prevalence has stabilized since 2019, notes the health agency, which is based on data from a telephone survey conducted between March and July 2022 among 3,229 adults. According to Public Health France, the stress related to the Covid-19 health crisis may have had an impact on the interruption of the decline in smoking prevalence and on the increase observed among certain populations.

The prevalence of daily smoking remains significantly higher at lower educational attainment: it ranges from 30.8% among those with no or less than a bachelor's degree to 16.8% among those with a diploma above the bachelor's level. It is also highest among the third of the population with the lowest incomes (33.6%); Finally, among 18-64 year olds, the prevalence of daily smoking remains significantly higher among the unemployed (42.3%), than among the employed (26.1%) or students (19.1%).

In 2022, 41.2% of 18-75 year olds say they have already experimented with electronic cigarettes. The prevalence of daily vaping is 5.5%. It does not vary significantly compared to 2021, but an upward trend has been observed since 2016: there were 2.5% of daily vapers.

Another lesson from the survey: among daily smokers, 59.3% say they want to quit, 26.4% say they plan to quit in the next six months and 30.3% have made a quit attempt of at least one week in the last 12 months.

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