Greece - country profile
- Cigarettes Cigarettes
- Nicotine Vaping Devices (E-cigarettes) E-cigarettes
- Snus Snus
- Heated Tobacco Products HTP
- Nicotine Replacement Therapy NRT
Cigarettes 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.
All
Prevalence
Smoking-related mortality
Product promotion
Regulation
Availability
Regulations and restrictions
Perception of harm
Tax
Tobacco smoking prevalence
Number of current smokers:
3,535,282
A
Adult current tobacco smoking prevalence:
39.1%
A
Adult current tobacco smoking prevalence (female):
32.8%
A
Adult current tobacco smoking prevalence (male):
45.3%
A
A
(1) WHO global report on trends in prevalence of tobacco use 2000-2025, third edition. (2019). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-global-report-on-trends-in-prevalence-of-tobacco-use-2000-2025-third-edition. (2) Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Ed.). (2019). World Population Prospects 2019 (Online Edition Rev. 1.; Population Division). United Nations. https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/
Smoking-related mortality
Annual number of deaths attributable to tobacco smoking:
22,759
A
Annual number of deaths attributable to tobacco smoking (female):
6,555
A
Annual number of deaths attributable to tobacco smoking (male):
16,204
A
Annual percentage of all deaths attributable to tobacco smoking:
20.9%
A
Annual percentage of all deaths attributable to tobacco smoking (female):
10.4%
A
Annual percentage of all deaths attributable to tobacco smoking (male):
25.1%
A
A
The Tobacco Atlas. Available at: https://tobaccoatlas.org/topic/deaths/ Data source: GBD 2016 Risk Factors Collaborators.
Nicotine Vaping Devices (E-cigarettes) 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.
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Prevalence
Smoking-related mortality
Product promotion
Regulation
Availability
Regulations and restrictions
Perception of harm
Tax
Prevalence
Number of current vapers:
185,595
A
Adult current e-cigarette vaping prevalence:
2.1%
A
Ever tried e-cigarette vaping:
27.0%
1
B
A
European Commission. (2021). Special Eurobarometer 506: Attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco and electronic cigarettes (S2240_506_ENG). European Commission. http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/S2240_506_ENG
B
Farsalinos K. Siakas G. Poulas K. Voudris V. Merakou K.and Barbouni A. (2018). Electronic cigarette use in Greece: an analysis of a representative population sample in Attica prefecture. Harm Reduction Journal. 15:20 Available at: https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-018-0229-7
1
This was a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 4058 adults (aged 18+) living in Attica prefecture (35% of the Greek adult population) which was conducted in May 2017 through telephone interviews. Prevalence and frequency of e-cigarette use were assessed according to the smoking status, and logistic regression analysis was performed to identify correlates of use.It should be noted that this is a regional prevalence survey not whole country. However Attica has 35% of the adult Greek population. Correspondence with the author explained the data on estimated number of vapers are extrapolated to the Attica population (1/3rd of the Greek population). But the prevalence (5% of the population) could be reasonably applicable to the whole population of Greece. This would mean there are about 450,000 vapers in Greece (in an adult population of about 9 million).
Product promotion
Advertising is regulated:
Yes
1
1
Allowed or banned at place of sale or allowed or banned in all media.
Regulation
A
Data cross-referenced where possible using the following sources :1. Vapetrotter website. Available at: https://www.vapetrotter.com/laws/ ; 2. Global tobacco control website. Available at:https://www.globaltobaccocontrol.org/node/14052 ; 3. Tobacco Control Laws website. Available at : https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/legislation/
Availability
Regulations and restrictions
Notifications of new products required:
Yes
Child and tamperproof containers required:
Yes
Health warning on packaging required:
No
Minimum age restrictions on sales:
Yes
18 years
A
Restrictions on nicotine content:
Yes
Legal restrictions on use in public places:
No
Restrictions on tank size:
Yes
A
https://ec.europa.eu/health/tobacco/products/revision_en
Perception of harm
Don't know:
16.0%
1
A
Not harmful, or less harmful than cigarettes:
19.0%
1
A
Harmful, or more harmful than cigarettes:
65.0%
1
A
A
Reference: European Commission (2017). Special Eurobarometer 458: Attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco and electronic cigarettes Available at: http://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/S2146_87_1_458_ENG
1
Question asked in this survey did not compare harmfulness with cigarettes. The question used was 'Do you think they are harmful to the health of people who use them?' 65% - YES, 19% - NO, 16% DON'T KNOW
Snus in Greece
There are no comments specific to snus in Greece in the database.
All
Prevalence
Smoking-related mortality
Product promotion
Regulation
Availability
Regulations and restrictions
Perception of harm
Tax
Regulation
Regulatory status:
Banned
A
A
Tobacco Tactics website available at: http://tobaccotactics.org/index.php/Snus:_EU_Ban_on_Snus_Sales
Heated Tobacco Products in Greece
There are no comments specific to heated tobacco products in Greece in the database.
All
Prevalence
Smoking-related mortality
Product promotion
Regulation
Availability
Regulations and restrictions
Perception of harm
Tax
Availability
Products are marketed:
Yes
1
A
A
1. Philip Morris International website. Available at: https://www.pmi.com/smoke-free-products/iqos-our-tobacco-heating-system; 2. BAT Harm Reduction Report 2018. Available at: https://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__9d9kcy.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DCL3P.
1
1. IQOS; 2. glo
Nicotine Replacement Therapy in Greece
There are no comments specific to nicotine replacement therapy in Greece in the database.
All
Prevalence
Smoking-related mortality
Product promotion
Regulation
Availability
Regulations and restrictions
Perception of harm
Tax
Product promotion
Market size:
3.00 million €
A
Market size per smoker:
0.80 €
A
A
Consumer Health: Euromonitor from trade sources/national statistics. Date Exported: 8/9/2019. (c) Euromonitor International 2019
