Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - Almost every fifth Hessian smoked in the past year. As the State Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Monday on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the proportion was 19.4 percent of the population. There were slight differences between the sexes: the percentage of smokers was 22.8 for men and 19.4 for women. At 31.9 percent, men in the 25 to 34 age group also had the highest proportion of smokers in Hesse.
The proportion of smokers fell again across the country. The latest comparative figures from the State Statistical Office from 2017 still show a share of 21.1 percent. However, according to the statisticians, a meanwhile changed query method can also be the reason for the drop of 1.7 points - not necessarily the actual smoking behavior.
The Frankfurt addiction researcher Heino Stöver called for a rethinking of health policy on Tuesday. The start of tobacco consumption must be prevented by preventive measures. In addition, the professor and director of the Institute for Addiction Research (ISFF) at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences spoke out in favor of nicotine products that do not burn tobacco.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the per capita consumption of cigarettes fell by around 21 percent nationwide between 2011 and 2021. On average, every adult in Germany still smokes more than 1,000 cigarettes per year. The consumption of pipe tobacco, on the other hand, increased eightfold in the same period - mainly due to the increasing demand for water pipes and so-called electric heaters.
