Bulgaria Now Has the EU’s Highest Smoking Rate

Key Takeaways

• Bulgaria recorded a 37% smoking rate in 2023. It was the highest rate in the EU.
• Greece led in 2006 with a 42% smoking rate. However, it fell to 36% by 2023.
• The EU27 average fell from an estimated 31% in 2006 to 24% in 2023. That is a drop of 7 percentage points across 27 countries.
• Denmark and the Netherlands recorded the steepest declines in the EU. Both fell 18 percentage points between 2006 and 2023.
• Six countries had higher smoking rates in 2023 than in 2006. That includes Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
• Sweden has the lowest smoking rate in the EU at 8%. This dataset excludes snus. It is a smokeless tobacco product used daily by 22% of Swedish men in 2024.
• Bulgaria’s cheap cigarette prices and low quit attempt rates help explain why its smoking rate stayed flat while the EU average fell sharply.

Change in Smoking Rates Across EU Countries

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In 2006, Greece had the highest smoking rate in the EU. It showed that 42% of its population aged 15 and over smoked. By 2023, Greece had cut that rate to 36%. Bulgaria did not cut nearly as much. Its rate rose slightly, from 36% to 37%, over the same 17 years. That is enough for Bulgaria to overtake Greece as the EU’s highest-smoking country.

The wider EU pattern runs the opposite way. The EU27 average fell from an estimated 31% in 2006 to 24% in 2023. The EU’s Tobacco Products Directive became applicable across all member states in 2016. It made large combined health warnings mandatory on cigarette packs. It also banned cigarettes with characterising flavours.

Bulgaria Overtakes Greece as the EU’s Highest-Smoking Country

Bulgaria’s smoking rate has barely moved in 17 years. Cigarette prices help explain why. In 2016, a pack of cigarettes in Bulgaria cost €2.42. It is the cheapest in the EU. The EU average that year was €4.41.

Quitting is rare, too. A 2017 Eurobarometer survey found that 78% of Bulgarian smokers had never tried to quit. In the UK, only 29% of smokers said the same.

Greece still ranks second-highest in the EU at 36%. Its drop from 42% was real. It just was not steep enough to keep pace as other countries cut faster.

Sweden Has the EU’s Lowest Smoking Rate, But This Count Excludes Snus

Sweden’s smoking rate fell from 18% in 2006 to 8% in 2023. That is the lowest rate in the EU. Denmark and the Netherlands also posted steep declines. Both fell 18 percentage points. Those are the largest drops of any EU country. 

Sweden’s cigarette count leaves out snus. This dataset covers cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, and pipe tobacco. It does not cover snus, a smokeless oral tobacco product. In 2024, 22% of Swedish men and 10% of Swedish women reported using snus daily. Sweden’s low cigarette-smoking rate does not mean Swedes have stopped using tobacco. Many have shifted to a product that this survey does not measure.

The pattern across the EU is not just a decline. It is an uneven decline. Bulgaria’s flat rate shows what happens when cheap cigarettes and low quit rates work against a bloc-wide trend. Its overtaking of Greece is not a sign that Bulgaria has gotten worse. It is a sign that everyone else got better faster.