The annual Barometer from Santé publique France, which has just been published, reveals that even though the number of smokers is decreasing in France, 75,000 smoking-related deaths were still recorded in France in 2015, accounting for more than one in eight deaths.
Smoking continues to kill!
“As in most industrialized countries, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable deaths in France,” emphasizes the epidemiological bulletin (BEH) of the health agency Santé publique France.
Men are the most affected, with 19% of deaths due to smoking (55,400) in 2015, compared to 7% for women (19,900). However, in the long term, the trend is unfavorable for women. As evidence, between 2000 and 2015, the number of tobacco-attributable deaths among men decreased (-11%), while it multiplied by 2.5 among women (rising from 8,000 to 19,900).
Fewer smokers, more vapers!
Nevertheless, the number of smokers is decreasing in France, while vaping is becoming increasingly popular. France had 600,000 fewer smokers in 2018 than in 2017. This significant reduction adds to the one million fewer smokers already recorded between 2016 and 2017. At the same time, over one year, there are 500,000 more daily vapers.
Good news, nonetheless, three days before World No Tobacco Day: a little more than a quarter of French people (25.4%) smoke daily, whereas it was nearly 30% two years ago. This means that some smokers have quit smoking, but also that fewer young people are starting to smoke.
In the end, public policies are probably not unrelated to these developments. Several actions have been implemented and seem to be bearing fruit: the regular increase in the price of cigarette packs, the introduction of plain packaging in 2017, the reimbursement of nicotine substitutes, the promotion of electronic cigarettes, and the “Tobacco-Free Month” campaign that has been held every November for the past three years.
