42 Percent of Greeks Smoking Daily or Occasionally - EU Survey

Three out of ten Europeans aged 16 or more admit to being smokers, according to a study published by the European Commission, with Greece heading the list.

The vast majority of the smokers said they were regular smokers with just five percent of the 26,500 European polls calling themselves occasional smokers, according to the pollsters at Eurobarometer.

Greece headed the ranks, with 42 percent of responders saying they smoked daily or occasionally. Bulgaria (39 percent) and Latvia (37 percent) had the next highest proportion of smokers.

At the other end of the scale, 25 percent of Swedes and 22 percent of Slovaks described themselves as smokers.

The French were relatively high up the list with 34 percent smokers, while the Britain rate was significantly lower at 28 percent.

Throughout the EU 22 percent of respondents said they had quit smoking while almost half, 46 percent, said they had never smoked, according to the poll.

A large majority of EU citizens polled supported the growing European trend towards smoke-free public places, such as offices, restaurants and bars.

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However less than a third believe that the kind of "smoking kills" warning on cigarette packets were effective, with only a fifth of smokers saying the ads would persuade them to cut down or quit.

One in ten smokers said they had gone to another EU nation to buy cheaper cigarettes over the last year, while 12 percent said they thought they had come across smuggled contraband cigarettes.

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Source-AFP
SRM