By KARL RITTER and CHARLENE PELEPeople enjoy drinks and snacks in the evening sun on a terrace overlooking Stockholm, on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Smoking is prohibited in both indoor and outdoor areas of bars and restaurants in Sweden, which has the lowest share of smokers in the European Union. People enjoy drinks and snacks in the evening sun on a terrace overlooking Stockholm, on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.
Many experts give credit to decades of anti-smoking campaigns and legislation, while others point to the prevalence of “snus,” a smokeless tobacco product that is banned elsewhere in the EU but is marketed in Sweden as an alternative to cigarettes. Whatever the reason, the 5% milestone is now within reach. Only 6.4% of Swedes over 15 were daily smokers in 2019, the lowest in the EU and far below the average of 18.5% across the 27-nation bloc, according to the Eurostat statistics agency.
Figures from the Public Health Agency of Sweden show the smoking rate has continued to fall since then, reaching 5.6% last year.