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Swiss authorities have released results of a 30-year study on smoking and tobacco use in the country, tracking answers to a health survey conducted from 1992 to 2022.
Overall, around 24% of Switzerland’s population aged 15 and older smoked as of 2022.
To try and provide some context – using numbers from TobaccoIntelligence’s sister publication ECigIntelligence, which differ slightly as they are modelled for 18+ users and are based off 2021 population estimates – the 24% smoking prevalence rate (22.3% according to ECigIntelligence) would put the country roughly in the middle of the pack, globally, in terms of smoking rates in countries tracked by the key global e-cigarette markets database.
When factoring in just European countries tracked by ECigIntelligence, Switzerland would have the 13th lowest smoking prevalence out of 30 total countries using ECigIntelligence’s prevalence number, about 16th using the Swiss report’s 24%, putting the country in the middle in Europe as well.
Swiss prefer consuming nicotine in the form of cigarettes
Cigarettes remain the preferred product for Swiss nicotine consumers, with around 85% using them, while 16% of nicotine consumers use e-cigarettes – though nearly half of those are dual users who also smoke traditional cigarettes.
Other tobacco products are used almost entirely by younger demographics: 17% of 15- to 24-year-olds reported trying them compared to only 1% of those aged 65+.
In that younger category, snus is actually more popular than vaping and heated tobacco combined, with 7.2% reporting some snus use compared to 5.3% for vaping and 1.8% for heated tobacco. The Swiss report does not seem to differentiate between snus and other oral nicotine products such as pouches.
Water pipes/shisha are also more popular than vaping or heated tobacco among the younger Swiss generation, with 6.6% indicating some sort of usage.
Looking at the population as a whole, e-cigarette use remains low – coming in at 4% in 2022, according to the Swiss report, titled The Consumption of Tobacco from 1992 to 2022. But there has been noticeable recent growth in certain demographics. For example, the number of women e-cig users has quadrupled from 1% of the population in 2017.
Smoking drop starts around same time alternatives hit the scene
Although authorities make no specific connection, they note the long-term smoking rate only started to see a decline in 2017, about when alternatives to conventional cigarettes such as vaping really began to take off.
Such a supposition could be supported by gender- and age-specific data. Smoking rates among Swiss men in all age groups dropped overall. However, in the older backet for women (ages 45 to 64), smoking levels have remained fairly static, while in the oldest age bracket (65+), they have in fact increased. This would also be the group most likely to be least interested in alternative products.
Further adding to the circumstantial evidence that it might be down to tobacco and nicotine alternatives is that quit rates increased while the percentage that has never smoked broadly levelled out over the period. One small note that detracts from this is that the Swiss reported quit rates steadily increasing from 1997 to 2022, having dropped slightly between 1992 and 1997.
This steady sort of progress could be an indication that other measures, such as increases in tobacco excise duties, account for moves away from smoking. This, though, does not necessarily exclude the theory of a marked impact from alternatives, especially vaping.
Still trying to find success in quitting
Similar progress has been the case in other jurisdictions before starting to plateau. Many models indicate a hard “rump” of smokers who would not, or could not, move away from smoking – despite increasing prices – until the introduction of a viable alternative in the form of vaping.
The survey reports there is still further work that could be accomplished by vaping and other alternatives as well. Around 60% of smokers in Switzerland say they wish they could quit, with 30% saying they have attempted but failed to do so in the previous year. Swiss authorities estimate six times more smokers try to quit than succeed in any given year.
Overall, they say only around half of people who have ever consumed tobacco manage to quit smoking. Perhaps with more alternative nicotine products entering the market, those quit numbers can go up.
– Freddie Dawson TobaccoIntelligence staff
Photo: Mario
