Smokers (i21)

In 2018, in Belgium 15.4% of the population aged 15 and over smoked daily. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must be reduced to 9.2%. This objective will not be reached by continuing the trend since 2001 (data available in November 2023). The proportion of daily smokers is therefore developing unfavourably.

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Daily smokers - Belgium - trend assessment

percentage of population aged 15 and over

 2000200120132018202020252030
observations--24.118.915.4------
trend and extrapolation (November 2023)--24.818.515.714.913.512.7
objective 20309.29.29.29.29.29.29.2

Sciensano (2019), L. Gisle, S. Demarest, S. Drieskens, Consommation de tabac. Bruxelles, Belgique: Sciensano; Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/66; www.enquetesante.be (consulted on 17/10/2019); calculations FPB.

Smokers - Belgium and international comparison

percentage of population aged 15 and over

 2006200920122014201720202020//20062020//2014
Belgium26.030.027.025.019.021.0-1.5-2.9
EU2731.029.028.027.027.025.0-1.5-1.3
//: Average Growth Rates

Eurostat (2023), Smoking prevalence [sdg_03_30], https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023).

Smokers and daily smokers - Belgium

percentage of population aged 15 and over

 1997200120042006200820092012201320142017201820202018//19972018//2013
smokers------26.0--30.027.0--25.019.0--21.0----
daily smokers25.524.124.0--20.7----18.9----15.4---2.4-4.0
//: Average Growth Rates

Eurostat (2023), Smoking prevalence [sdg_03_30], https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 03/10/2023) and Sciensano (2019), L. Gisle, S. Demarest, S. Drieskens, Consommation de tabac. Bruxelles, Belgique: Sciensano; Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/66; www.enquetesante.be (consulted on 17/10/2019).

Daily smokers by region - Belgium

percentage of population aged 15 and over, fitted trends

 1997200120042008201320182018//19972018//2013
Brussels-Capital Region27.325.323.722.518.316.6-2.3-1.9
Flemish Region24.122.922.918.817.713.4-2.8-5.4
Walloon Region27.625.926.224.221.518.8-1.8-2.6
//: Average Growth Rates

The margin of uncertainty for this indicator is indicated in the text for the latest year.

Sciensano (2019), L. Gisle, S. Demarest, S. Drieskens, Consommation de tabac. Bruxelles, Belgique: Sciensano; Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/66; www.enquetesante.be; Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 17/10/2019).

Daily smokers by sex - Belgium

percentage of population aged 15 and over

 1997200120042008201320182018//19972018//2013
females19.920.020.017.916.412.1-2.3-5.9
males31.428.528.223.921.618.9-2.4-2.6
//: Average Growth Rates

Sciensano (2019), L. Gisle, S. Demarest, S. Drieskens, Consommation de tabac. Bruxelles, Belgique: Sciensano; Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/66; www.enquetesante.be; Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 17/10/2019).

Daily smokers by education - Belgium

percentage of population aged 15 and over

 1997200120042008201320182018//19972018//2013
primary education26.520.926.622.318.714.2-2.9-5.4
lower secondary education32.327.528.829.126.222.5-1.7-3.0
higher secondary education27.527.327.225.525.521.0-1.3-3.8
higher education19.520.618.113.211.810.1-3.1-3.1
//: Average Growth Rates

Sciensano (2019), L. Gisle, S. Demarest, S. Drieskens, Consommation de tabac. Bruxelles, Belgique: Sciensano; Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/66; www.enquetesante.be; Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 17/10/2019).

Daily smokers by income - Belgium

percentage of population aged 15 and over

 1997200120042008201320182018//19972018//2013
quintile 128.127.329.826.626.124.5-0.6-1.3
quintile 227.323.625.122.521.316.5-2.4-5.0
quintile 328.224.022.621.420.214.6-3.1-6.3
quintile 424.224.224.021.619.316.6-1.8-3.0
quintile 519.123.719.514.812.211.2-2.5-1.7
//: Average Growth Rates

Sciensano (2019), L. Gisle, S. Demarest, S. Drieskens, Consommation de tabac. Bruxelles, Belgique: Sciensano; Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/66; www.enquetesante.be; Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 17/10/2019).

Definition: share of the population aged 15 and over reporting daily smoking. The data come from the National Health Surveys carried out by the Scientific Institute of Public Health/Sciensano. For the international comparison, data measuring the current proportion of smokers (not just daily smokers) are used, and they come from Eurostat. Since both indicators are based on surveys, a margin of uncertainty should be taken into account. This margin of uncertainty increases as the indicator is calculated on smaller sub-populations. The Sciensano website presents the data with confidence intervals and for European data, they are available from Eurostat upon request.

Goal: the share of daily smokers must be reduced to 9.2% by 2030.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 3.a: "Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate".

The Inter-federal Strategy 2022-2028 for a Tobacco-free Generation adopted in Belgium in 2022 aimed at reducing smoking among the general population, particularly the people aged 15-24 years (Cellule Générale des Politiques de Drogues, 2022). This strategy aims to reduce the proportion of daily smokers to 10% in 2028 and 5% in 2040. Assuming a constant reduction between 2028 and 2040, the goal would be 9.2% in 2030.

International comparison: over the period 2006-2020, the share of smokers is on average higher in the EU27 than in Belgium. Over this period, the decrease in the indicator was nevertheless greater in the EU27 than in Belgium, with a respective decrease of 22% compared to 19%. When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group that performs best and outperforms the European average in 2020. In that year, Sweden ranked first with 7.0% and Greece last with 42.0%.

UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 3.a.1 - Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older (comparative rates by age).

Sources

More information is available in French and Dutch.