This indicator is currently being revised as new data is available.


In 2017, 27.1% of the Swiss population smoked. The majority of smokers (19.1% of the population) consumed tobacco daily, a smaller proportion occasionally (8.0%). The percentage of smokers has fallen slightly since 1997 (33.2%), but has stagnated since 2007. 

Smoking is more common among men, who have a percentage share of 31.0%, than women (23.3%, 2017). Significant differences in tobacco consumption are seen not only between the sexes but also according to socio-demographic characteristics: In 2017, 30.1% of people whose highest level of education completed was upper secondary level smoked. This was 7 percentage points more than people who had completed tertiary level education but also 3.1 percentage points more than people who had completed compulsory education at most. 31.7% of foreign nationals smoked, which is also higher than Swiss nationals (25.7%). 

This indicator is part of the Monitoring System Addiction and NCD (MonAM) of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).

Tobacco consumption is one of the main causes of numerous diseases, disability and early death. It shows a very clear association with mortality from lung cancer and increases the risk of other cancer types (e.g. tongue or laryngeal cancer), of cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases. Tobacco related diseases do not only have an adverse effect on individual well-being, but also lead to considerable costs for society.

Definition

This indicator shows the percentage of the population aged 15 and over, living in a private household, that currently smokes. It shows the distribution of tobacco consumption over time in the total population and in different population groups. The pie chart shows the percentage of daily smokers/occasional smokers/non-smokers.

The indicator is based on the TABAC3 and DAYSMOKE indices from the Swiss Health Survey (SHS). The indicator TABAC3 is compiled from the question on current tobacco consumption (tobacco consumption: yes/no) and the question on previous tobacco consumption and shows the percentage of smokers (upper graphic). Daily smokers/occasional smokers/non-smokers (pie chart) are calculated on the basis of the DAYSMOKE index. The question on whether people smoke on a daily basis was introduced in 2007; percentages can be shown from this year onward in the second diagram.

An explanation of socio-demographic variables can be found in the document: Definition of the characteristics

Source

Further information

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Last updated

30/11/2022