Smoking rates in Sweden have plummeted from 16.5 per cent to under six per cent in less than a decade, a new report reveals.
The decline is due to safer nicotine alternatives such as vapes being widely available in the country, according to vaping advocacy group Smoke Free Sweden.
The report by the public health agency of Sweden shows that in 2022, just 5.8 per cent of the population aged 16 to 84 reported smoking cigarettes daily. This is well below the average smoking rate in the European Union of 23 per cent.
Following this trend, the data points to Sweden having now dipped below the official “smoke-free” rate set by the World Health Organisation of five per cent.
Daily tobacco smoking in women and men, 16–84 years, during the period 2004–2022 (percentage).
The lowest proportion of daily smoking in 2022, four per cent, was seen in the younger age groups 16–29 years and 30–44 years. The proportions reporting daily smoking were seven and eight per cent in the age groups 45–64 and 65–84 years respectively.
Decline in smoking corresponds with rise in vaping
The largest decline in smoking seen in younger generations corresponds to an increase in these age groups vaping. The report says: “There is a clear increase in e-cigarette use in the youngest age group and especially among women from year 2020.”
Vape use was included in the questionnaire for the first time in 2018. In 2022, approximately two per cent of the population aged 16 to 84 years reported vaping, with a quarter saying they used vapes daily.
The proportion of vape use, daily or occasionally, was highest in the youngest age group (eight per cent among women and five per cent among men). It was lowest in the oldest age group (0.5 per cent among women and 0.7 per cent among men).
Vape use daily or occasionally in women and men and for different age groups (percentage).
The use of snus - a smokeless tobacco product usually placed behind the upper lip - has also significantly increased among young people aged 16 to 29, from three per cent in 2018 to 12 per cent in 2022.
In June 2024, the Swedish Parliament agreed to lower the tax on snus by 20 per cent. The move is in conjunction with the tax on traditional tobacco products rising by nine per cent.
Nicotine pouches have also become increasingly popular especially among younger age groups. Among those aged 16–29, approximately 18 per cent of the women and 12 per cent of men used nicotine pouches daily or occasionally in 2022 (the first time figures were recorded).
The figures follow a landmark report from Smoke Free Sweden published in May 2024 that proves nicotine use does not lead to tobacco-related disease. Sweden reports a massive 41 per cent lower incidence of lung cancer and fewer than half the tobacco-related deaths of 24 out of 26 of its European peers.
