Smoking prevalence, vaping laws, snus in Italy

The overall trend for prevalence of current smokers in the general population in Italy has been downwards since 2006. 24% of the population in Italy were current smokers in 2017, down from 31% in 2006. The prevalence reduced steadily during this period with the exception of 2014-2017 where there was a 3% increase. 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.

Italy abides by the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) (2014). The Italian law that implements the TPD is Legislative Decree 12 January 2016, No. 6. As such, e-cigarettes are regulated as tobacco products. Indoor vaping bans apply to governmental buildings. Recent (2018) changes in legislation have made distance sales and online sales illegal. Some online commentators fear a recent tax hike, which applies to e-cigarettes but not heated tobacco products, will discourage safer nicotine use. The Chamber of Deputies, on 13th December 2018, approved a tax decree which will reduce the current taxation on e-liquids containing nicotine for electronic cigarettes by 80%. This would reduce the current heavy taxation of almost 4 euros for a 10 ml bottle to a light taxation of 80 cents (for e-liquids containing nicotine).

There are no comments specific to snus in Italy in the database.

In Italy, heated tobacco products may be regulated by Law 188/2014 as smokeless tobacco products, “Tabacchi da inalazione senza combustion” (“Tobacco product for inhalation without combustion”). Also, Italian law n.6/2016, transposes Article 19 of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (covering novel tobacco products) and covers heated tobacco products. Regulations cover reporting, notifications and health warning labels.

There are no comments specific to nicotine replacement therapy in Italy in the database.