On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day this Wednesday, Public Health France publishes its study on smoking for the year 2022. It indicates in particular that there are more smokers among people without a diploma than among those who have superior Studies.
The number of smokers remains at “a high standard” in France because in 2022, France has “12 million daily smokers”announces Wednesday, May 31 Public Health France, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, in a study on smoking that franceinfo was able to consult.
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According to these results, in metropolitan France, in 2022 more than three out of ten people say they smoke and among them, a quarter smoke daily with an average of more than 12 cigarettes per day, details Public Health France in its weekly epidemiological bulletin. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in France, with 75,000 attributable deaths in 2015, or 13% of deaths.
Smokers are more often men than women, 27.4% against 21.7%, a difference of almost six points. The increase seen among women between 2019 and 2021 does not appear to be continuing, notes this study. It also emphasizes social inequalities that are still very marked in terms of smoking, thus there are more smokers among people without a diploma, 30.8%, against 16.8% among those who have completed higher education. The proportions are also higher among people who are unemployed or among young people in apprenticeship compared to those who are in high school. The prevalence of daily smoking is therefore 42.3% among the unemployed, 26.1% among the working population and 19.1% among students.
The stability of smoking is confirmed in 2022
Among these daily smokers, nearly six out of ten want to quit smoking (59.3%). 26.4% of smokers say they plan to quit in the next six months and 30.3% have attempted to quit for at least a week in the last 12 months. After a period of declining smoking prevalence between 2016 and 2019, “the stability of smoking observed from 2020 is confirmed in 2022”details Public Health France, which sees it as a “an impact of the health, social and economic crisis linked to Covid-19”.
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According to Public Health France, the prevalence of daily vaping is 5.5%. “It does not vary significantly compared to 2021, but an upward trend has been observed since 2016, when there were 2.5% of daily vapers”. With the aim of continuing the fight against the scourge of smoking and achieving a first tobacco-free generation in 2032, the Minister of Health François Braun announced a new national program to fight against tobacco, the preparation of which is continuing and will be launched This year. This will include “to better prevent the onset of smoking and to support smokers in quitting, with particular attention to target populations, especially young people, as well as to the reduction of social inequalities in health related to tobacco”.