After an unprecedented drop between 2016 and 2019, smoking has stabilized in France, but inequalities are strong according to social origin, according to the results of a study published Wednesday by Public Health France.
In 2022, in metropolitan France, almost a third of people aged 18-75 said they smoked (31.8%), a quarter (24.5%) daily. This represents almost 12 million daily smokers. The increase observed among women between 2019 and 2021 does not appear to continue.
After an unprecedented drop in daily smoking between 2016 and 2019 (from 29.4% to 24.0% in mainland France), the 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 could have had an impact on the interruption of the decline in the prevalence of smoking and on the increase observed among certain populations.
19.1% of students
The prevalence of daily smoking continues to be, in fact, significantly higher the lower the degree level: it varies from 30.8% among people without a degree or with less than a baccalaureate degree to 16.8% among those with a higher degree to high school
It is higher among the third of the population with the lowest income (33.6%); finally, among people aged 18 to 64, the prevalence of daily smoking continues to be significantly higher among the unemployed (42.3%) than among employed workers (26.1%) or students (19.1%) .
In 2022, 41.2% of young people between the ages of 18 and 75 state that they have already tried electronic cigarettes. The prevalence of daily vaping is 5.5%. It does not vary significantly compared to 2021, but an upward trend is observed since 2016: there were then 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 within the next six months, and 30.3% have made an attempt to quit. inactivity of at least one week in the last 12 months.
Source: BFM TV
