Global 
Austria 
Belgium 
Germany 
Italy 
Japan 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
Portugal 
Qatar 
Russia 
Saudi Arabia 
South Africa 
Spain 
Switzerland 
UAE 
United Kingdom Price hikes ‘forcing French smokers to quit’
PARIS, Feb 1 (AFP) - The number of smokers in France has dropped by nearly two million over the past five years because of rising awareness of the health risks and steep price rises imposed by the government, a study showed Sunday.
Between 1999 and 2003, the proportion of smokers has gone from 34.5 percent of France’s 60-million strong population to 30.4 percent, a decline of 1.8 million smokers to 13.5 million, the survey by the Institute for Prevention and Health Education (INPES) and the IPSOS statistics institute found.
It interviewed 3,000 people aged 15 to 75 across the country.
Last year saw a large proportion of French people – 14 percent – giving up cigarettes as the government ratcheted up the price of packets to around EUR 5 (USD 6).
Overall, the ex-smokers said prices had become their second most-important reason for kicking the habit, after that of wanting to take better care of their health.
In addition, the survey found that a third of the smokers polled planned to give up in the coming months.
The INPES noted that women and young people were the ones most likely to stop smoking, saying that tobacco consumption for those two categories had dropped 18 percent.
© AFP
Subject: France news
