39.1% of the adult population are current smokers
There are approximately 3.5 million current smokers in Greece
45.3% of men are current smokers but only 32.8% of women
Smoking in Greece
There has been an overall downwards trend for prevalence of current smokers in the general population in Greece since 2006. 37% of Greeks were current smokers in 2017, down from 42% in 2006. The prevalence reduced gradually during this period. These data come from the Eurobarometer surveys, the most recent of which was carried out in 2017. In the most recent survey a total of 27,901 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed face-to-face at home, in their mother tongue, across all 28 of the EU countries. The sample for each country is representative, however the sample sizes are relatively small (e.g. most countries had just over 1000 participants, but for Italy, Malta and Lithuania the sample was around 500). Nevertheless, the Eurobarometer surveys are useful as they have estimates for smoking prevalence collected over a number of years which can show trends, as described here.
Deaths
In Greece, 22,759 people die each year due to tobacco smoking.
e-cigarette vaping
The prevalence of current e-cigarette vaping among adults is 2.07%.
Nicotine Vaping Devices
in Greece
Greece abides by the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) (2014). Vaping is permitted anywhere that smoking is allowed, and Greece has put a strict anti-smoking legislation in place, however the ban is not effective in practice. In September 2018 the sale of non-nicotine e-cigarettes became prohibited. Greeks cannot buy e-cigarettes or vaping fluids from other countries by mail order. A tax on e-cigarettes came into effect in January 2017 (at €0.10 per ml) and covers all e-cigarettes and e-cigarette fluid regardless of whether they contain nicotine. New rules are being implemented in Greece (as of 2019) which ban the sale of the raw ingredients in e-liquids: propylene glycol, glycerol and flavorings.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
in Greece
NRT is available in Pharmacy. Advertising NRT is allowed.