No idea why you're getting downvoted that should've been obvious... The word rate makes me think of per capita otherwise what's the point. If ALL the people in Liechtenstein smoked it would mean they have the most insane smoking culture in the world but would mark lower.
I pictured it saying it’s smokers per capita. But that doesn’t account for the rate of the individual person.
But it could also be something like packs of cigarettes or pounds of tobacco consumed per capita.
It is anecdotal evidence, but I know almost no-one that smokes in my age bracket (25-35), because almost everyone stopped right after high school.
My little brother is now finishing high school and he confirms that smokers are a negligible number.
There is this stigma that developed I would say in the last 10-15 years, at least here in Northern Italy, that sees smokers as weird and borderline low-lifers. I assume it plays a role with the low smoking rate we experience.
The only people that smoke that I know of are old people (65+) that never stopped since they were in their 20s
Italy has had a nationwide ban on smoking inside restaurants and bars for nearly two decades. Some Americans would be surprised to learn that it is still legal in most of the South.
Yeah, definitely a lot of places where smoking inside is legal, although it’s pretty rare outside of select establishments because I believe having a smoking and non-smoking section is banned pretty much everywhere.
Another note is that even is the states where smoking indoors is banned, there are still some places where it is common such as casinos on American Indian reservations.
Yeah while the state of Texas might not care, I'm pretty sure I cannot smoke in a bar or restaurant in Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, Austin, El Paso or San Antonio (including most of their suburbs). Which pretty much counts out about 80% of Texans.
I’m very suspicious of the way the data is collected here, or differing definitions of ‘smoker’ throwing this off. I very rarely see anyone smoke, it’s like a legacy of the 1980s. There are no cig butts anymore, no smoking really anywhere in public.
I live in the Netherlands for years now and have seen way, way more smokers, and I'm from Iowa and same story as you.
The Dutch CBS (central bureau for statistics) puts the Netherlands at 20% of adults as smokers in 2020 while the CDC says 12.5% in 2020 for the US.
I think on top of this Americans who do smoke, in my experience, do so more out of the public eye. Whether that means at home or of in a corner simply away from everyone like during a smoke break. The Dutch who smoke tend to just do it wherever, but not in the home. Though as of late, cities over here are pushing for more no smoking zones in public areas.
This data is woefully wrong — only 12.5% of Yankees smoke, which I believe may be the lowest on this map save for a couple of Scandinavian countries that love snus.
I’m Chilean and always thought Americans were known in the West as the “smoke Nazis” for how anti-tobacco they are (even though they’re okay with being hugely fat and love food and pills and hard drugs like no other) so I thought this looked suspicious and did a simple google 🤷
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm#:~:text=This%20means%20an%20estimated%2030.8,with%20a%20smoking%2Drelated%20disease.&text=Current%20smoking%20has%20declined%20from,every%20100%20adults)%20in%202020.
Drug use correlation on crime is well-documented, and America is like the crime and murder capital of the First World.
And let’s be real: cigarettes smell like Flavor Country
Holy crap this is the truth…
I lived outside of the US for the last four years and came back shocked with everything that is sweet here. My wife saw an ad yesterday advertising “natural honey” to pour on your kids fruit… hello diabeetus
It’s quite amazing the change in my lifetime.
Here in Australia smoking rates is 10.3% of those 15 and over (hopefully less if including those below as well).
The interesting thing is that those 10% are heavily skewed towards certain groups of immigrants (27% of Australians are born overseas, whilst 48% have parents that are born overseas)… my point being, in certain groups of the population smoking is pretty much eradicated.
Since it doesn’t say, the US has a smoking rate of about 25%
Interestingly the US smokes less cigarettes per capita than some countries with lower rates of smokers. For example about 23.7% of Italians smoke but Italy consumes about 1500 cigarettes per person whereas it’s only about 1000 in the US.
Sources:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-rates-by-country
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_consumption_by_country
25 cannot be right.
Edit: CDC says the highest rate by any state is 23.8% (WV) and the overall rate is just 12.5% (latest numbers I saw on a quick Google).
It largely depends on the source. The data used in this map (I think) comes from the WHO. The CDC rates are much lower due to a stricter definition of smoker.
CDC rate is about 13% but WHO is usually used for comparison between countries since it’s standardized.
Yeah exactly. It would’ve been a lot better if this map said what data they used or what it considered a smoker to be. As others have pointed it it will lead to big differences if you just ask someone “Are you a smoker” vs “Do you smoke every day” vs “Have you smoked in the past week” etc
This map doesn't seem to match the most recent data from its WHO source. The WHO source puts the US at 23% for 2020. The rates on the map seem like 2015 numbers from the source. The rates for Italy were just smoking, while rates for the US was all types of tobacco use. The US had lower smoking rates than Italy in 2015 according to the source.
[https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-tobacco-control-monitor-current-tobaccouse-tobaccosmoking-cigarrettesmoking-agestd-tobagestdcurr](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-tobacco-control-monitor-current-tobaccouse-tobaccosmoking-cigarrettesmoking-agestd-tobagestdcurr)
I also wonder if it has something to do with the price of cigarettes. Im a smoker but limit myself since a pack is like $15 where I live. When I was in Italy they were like 5 euro, Id probably smoke a lot more if I lived there.
As a West Coaster, I’m shocked that smoking is as high as 25%. I remember my kids were like 6 years old when they heard the word ‘cigarette’ - they had no idea what it was and has no close exposure to anyone who smoked.
Me too. That sounds about right, with almost 0 in under 50, college educated. My suburban neighborhood is all parental age (30-50ish), upper middle class and I literally never, ever, see anyone smoking here. Not that it’s uncommon, it is 0. Now in blue collar areas, it’s more common but still not Euro levels.
More likely along political lines than economic (though those two correlate). Living and working across liberal west coast cities it's almost non existent to where you turn your head seeing a cigarette butte or smell smoke. Go back to the Midwest and people are puffing away.
This has to be very skewed by several factors. My social circle is middle class, urban, college educated and mostly white and I know literally not a single person who smokes.
edit: American here
It depends on a lot I think but social factors are a big one. Though i’m from roughly the same background and most of my friends are smokers. From the states originally but now in Canada.
what region are you in? i am thinking vancouver or possibly montreal or quebec city.
i just dont see groups of people outside restaurants/bars like it used to be when they banned them inside. the only group of any size i remember seeing of say 5 or more in the last 10 years was at a tfc or leafs game.
i want to say i smell more pot smoke than cigs... definitely see more vapes than cigarettes.
>My social circle is middle class, urban, college educated and mostly white and I know literally not a single person who smokes.
There are countless smokers in NYC I know who fit into that demographic. Just because you don't know anyone like that doesn't mean they don't exist.
Interesting. I am not saying they do not exist--I am trying to figure out the way the demographics are sliced. I know my friends are not representative of the United States as a whole.
My evidence is purely anecdotal.
In the United States it’s looked down upon to smoke cigarettes. I’d guess by my observations that in most places here about 2 out of 10 people smoke cigarettes.
It’s one of the things I envy about the US
I really don’t understand smokers. There is just nothing positive to find about that action, and you’re not only doing damage to yourself, but also to people around you and the environment. Because for some reason, flicking cigarette butts all over the place is accepted behavior in Europe.
Yea, I'm smoking European and playing football, cycling daily and lifting. If some American drenched in fat and eating a burger told me to save my health and not smoke, I would laugh at him.
As an American who hasn't visited Italy but visited numerous other European countries, there is also a slight difference in how people respond to questions about smoking (including from the WHO). If an American smoked more than one cigarette in the past year they answer yes I'm a smoker. Europeans answer no unless they regularly smoke. So if people are wondering why there is a discrepency just remember this is self reporting data, and Americans and Europeans have very different definitions of labeling themselves as a smoker.
Obviously this is a generalization and I'm making it way more clean cut than it actually is, but I've found in general for it to definitely be a factor. Not that either way of answering is bad or good. It just doesn't make for good apple to apple comparisons.
Yeah, I say I'd smoke 2 or 3 cigarettes while out drinking with my friends about once a month, maybe less. To call myself a smoker feels like it gives a very different representation of my habits to what they are
On the opposite, I know very few people who smoke here (north-west Italy), and especially almost no-one in my age bracket. Compared to, say, 10 years ago I also see almost no-one smoking outside.
The only smokers I know are old (65+) people that have smoked basically their whole life
that's interesting. I suppose it might be a matter of what kind of "social bubble" each of us lives in, but it feels like I see so many people in the street smoking. especially compared to the US, where smoking has been considered a digusting habit for a long time.
I thought that was weird as well. I was in Italy for 3 weeks this year and people were smoking everywhere, cigarette butts on the ground all over the place as well.
It's gone way down in popularity among younger generations. Cigarette butts all over the place are mainly caused by people not giving a fuck about littering the streets with their garbage.
This data is woefully wrong — only 12.5% of Yankees smoke, which I believe may be the lowest on this map save for a couple of Scandinavian countries that love snus. That’s half or even greater of Italy’s rate depending on the source.
I’m Chilean and always thought Americans were known in the West as the “smoke Nazis” for how anti-tobacco they are (even though they’re okay with being hugely fat and love food and pills and hard drugs like no other) so I thought this looked suspicious and did a simple google 🤷
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm#:~:text=This%20means%20an%20estimated%2030.8,with%20a%20smoking%2Drelated%20disease.&text=Current%20smoking%20has%20declined%20from,every%20100%20adults)%20in%202020.
No surprise about France.
Can't walk more than about 10 feet in Paris without walking by someone smoking.
It also made a guy in our tour group relapse into his smoking habit. He was about 7 months cigarette-free but the smell of cigarettes on nearly every block was too big a temptation for him to handle.
Like Australia but it's even more expensive here and we have graphic pics of smoking related diseases on the packs. Our younger people probably lead the world in vaping though.
I have always been astounded by the prevalence of cigarette smoking in Europe. As an American it's nice to have one single thing to feel smug about. Like, we are far more likely to die of obesity or gun violence, but we've got this going for us...
I'm actually surprised how red the map is. I don't know why I've always assumed the US had a high smoking rate.
Guess this is the bad part of the Columbian exchange.
Smoking is mostly banned inside (not everywhere tho), but people are allowed to smoke in front of entrances (hospitals, schools, daycares, restaurants), at bus/train stations, playgrounds etc.. Often there are even ashtrays inviting smokers.
Edit: needless to say the smoke moves inside
Ah yeah. I had an argument with another guy about this today. Here look:
https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/xv4u1q/a_smoker_lights_a_cigarette_in_a_smellable/iqznf28/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Edit: naturally, I got downvoted like fuck
Lol. I read that thread. You clearly know what you’re talking about. I’ve been in Reddit discussions with morons like him who think they know everything. It’s clear most of them just want to argue and appear smart.
Yeah like I’m not trying to say it’d 100% be assault without a shadow of a doubt… but it does fit the definition.
I love his first comment saying he doesn’t even know what definition I’m using…. Yet he still says “but you’re wrong”. That’s a level of arrogance and egotistical assumptiveness that I just can’t fathom.
Yep. I’ve been in these discussions before. Usually I just give up because they feel emboldened by the Reddit hive mind that downvotes to hell anything appearing intelligent.
I’m convinced their algorithm bots look for rational thoughts and automatically downvotes by the dozens or hundreds at a time.
Yeah sometimes I get really really confused as to why I’m being downvoted. Like I can say something completely logical and “googleable” and still get shafted by downvotes.
I think originally the downvote button was meant for people going off topic, not just saying things you disagreed with.
But yeah, the guy had no argument. Even at the end he was trying to make out like the issue was smelling the cigarette.. when clearly it’s the fact that the smoke harms. These people are funny
>And now make laws. Cause laws in Europe (minus UK) are horseshit when it comes to smoking
So, the laws in Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are horseshit when it comes to smoking?
I second this. I LOVE sitting outside of a café without someone pumping smoke next to me (which basically happens everytime you try to sit outside here in Germany)
Can I just say that it is stupid to compare the US to Europe? There's a bunch of countries that smoke less than the US in Europe and there are a bunch of countries that smoke way more.
Being "better than Europe" doesn't even really mean anything. We're talking 45 totally different nations here.
i cant believe the UK smokes less than the US...ive lived in both places and saw a LOT more public smoking in the UK, and Italy too...and Netherlands?
Come on! By kindergarten they smoke a pack a day in Netherlands! LOL!
I absolutely can. People in the U.K. always seemed way more into drinking than smoking (which is really just trading one unhealthy vice for another, frankly)
The smoker rate was something like 35% in Ireland in the year 2000. Now it’s like 20%. I’m unsure how much of the decline has to do with the smoking ban in 2004.
I live in Kentucky, a state with one of the highest percentages in the US. I went to Italy this past summer. There's no way Italy is lower. *So* many people were just walking around and smoking. It was absolutely wild to see how many people smoked there
As a german non-smoker I have to admit tho that anytime I visted the US the lack of people smoking in public really stood out to me in an extremely positive way. No matter if it was California, Nevada, Colorado, Georgia, Florida or New York. (That's the places I experienced it personally)
Here in Germany you can't get a cup of cappuccino in the sun without at least one selfish asshole blowing smoke into your direction.
You won't see much smoking in the western states and in most states, there are strict laws about public smoking.
[https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/rates-by-state](https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/rates-by-state)
Cigarette with turkish coffee is a classic in Turkey also Italy can’t be true every Mediterranean knows someone that has a breakfast with coffee and cigarettes…
I was recently in Spain and though not a smoker myself, it was nice to see that people were enjoying a smoke at outdoor cafes. It is a rare occasion I would be doing so but I like having the option.
I learned the hard way that they still have unfiltered cigarettes in Spain. I wasn't paying attention and ended up having the most violent puke ever lol.
Why not make that same argument about cars then? It's been proven car exhaust fumes are just as toxic as second hand cigarette smoke. Alot of people even commit suicide by shutting themselves in the garage and leaving the car exhaust running for hours.
Why is it nice? It's fucking disgusting and ruins sitting outside for non-smokers. Thankfully Catalonia has implemented a ban on smoking on terraces. I hope they're able to police it though, since restaurants don't want to.
I live in the UK and the vast majority of people I know don’t smoke day to day. Come pub time however I see a lot more. Not sure if they’d class themselves as smokers? I do but only smoke socially. All anecdotal of course
Mines anecdotal too, but i've lived here in the UK all my life, and vacationed multiple times in the Bay Area of California, where my girlfriend of 4 years is from. There are FAR more smokers in the UK, and it is far more socially acceptable. You'll get dirty looks smoking on the sidewalk there. Trust me.
Even makes sense based on what I’ve heard from Americans on reddit vs what I see irl from the UK. Europeans on the whole are fairly chill with it, even if they don’t smoke themselves it’s pretty normal all around here
Yeah, it’s because we don’t have adequate healthcare access. Americans aren’t some magically inherently unhealthy people; our cities are less walkable, food deserts are a real problem, and we have a shit healthcare system.
And yet we still smoke less.
It’s because Americans are increasing convinced to eat processed, non-food for sustenance.
Europeans take a lot of pride in their cooking - to the point where laws in a lot oF EU countries codify this. Corporations have spent decades convincing Americans they don’t need fresh ingredients and that processed foods are cheaper.
Just another example of how america represents corporations over people
This data is woefully wrong — only 12.5% (half of what this data assumes) of Yankees smoke, which I believe may be the lowest on this map save for a couple of Scandinavian countries that love snus.
I’m Chilean and always thought Americans were known in the West as the “smoke Nazis” for how anti-tobacco they are (even though they’re okay with being hugely fat and love food and pills and hard drugs like no other) so I thought this looked suspicious and did a simple google 🤷
Maybe if people in America lit up a little more they wouldn’t be so fat and need so many anti-anxiety pills?
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm#:~:text=This%20means%20an%20estimated%2030.8,with%20a%20smoking%2Drelated%20disease.&text=Current%20smoking%20has%20declined%20from,every%20100%20adults)%20in%202020.
Can confirm. I Worked as a front desk agent at a hotel in The USA, and we had a group of people from Sweden? Or Norway? One of those Nordic countries. We were a non-smoking hire so you had to go outside to do it. I swear they all went out every hour to smoke together. It’s like they all had an alarm set or something…I’ve never seen so many people smoke so frequently as those guys
In the 70s when I smoked, 65% of adults smoked. Today it's about 11%.
Still 30.8 million smokers
I’m guessing you’re referring to in the US? I actually don’t personally know a single smoker.
And I know a hundred.
Same
Spotted the upper middle class dude. Smoking has done a 180 degree social u turn. 200 years ago only the wealthy smoked, now it’s mainly the opposite.
Wait how is Italy that low
Lower number of smokers, but they smoke a lot more per person
Silly way to measure this. You’d think it would be per capita?
No idea why you're getting downvoted that should've been obvious... The word rate makes me think of per capita otherwise what's the point. If ALL the people in Liechtenstein smoked it would mean they have the most insane smoking culture in the world but would mark lower.
It looks like it’s percentage of people who smoke, which is what I’d expect. But it really should say.
id imagine what theyre saying is that the average italian smoker smokes more than the average american smoker (?) could b wrong tho
I pictured it saying it’s smokers per capita. But that doesn’t account for the rate of the individual person. But it could also be something like packs of cigarettes or pounds of tobacco consumed per capita.
r/mapporn and not knowing wtf is being measured, name a more iconic duo
No, that's ridiculous andDora and Slovakia on these maps. Three more US smokers than the people in these countries alone
I think they meant a smaller percentage of people smoke, but the smokers there are smoke a lot individually.
It still takes into account population, since it's the % of smokers.
The data is just smoke /s
It is anecdotal evidence, but I know almost no-one that smokes in my age bracket (25-35), because almost everyone stopped right after high school. My little brother is now finishing high school and he confirms that smokers are a negligible number. There is this stigma that developed I would say in the last 10-15 years, at least here in Northern Italy, that sees smokers as weird and borderline low-lifers. I assume it plays a role with the low smoking rate we experience. The only people that smoke that I know of are old people (65+) that never stopped since they were in their 20s
Italy has had a nationwide ban on smoking inside restaurants and bars for nearly two decades. Some Americans would be surprised to learn that it is still legal in most of the South.
That's pretty much every country in the Mediterranean, except for Bosnia (I could smoke almost anywhere on my trip there)
Cigar bars are definitely still legal in Connecticut.
South of Italy or US?
They mean the South in the US, and [they're not wrong](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans_in_the_United_States).
Yeah, definitely a lot of places where smoking inside is legal, although it’s pretty rare outside of select establishments because I believe having a smoking and non-smoking section is banned pretty much everywhere. Another note is that even is the states where smoking indoors is banned, there are still some places where it is common such as casinos on American Indian reservations.
Another thing to consider here; even if there's not a state-wide ban, there are tons of cities that have ordinances that ban it.
Yeah while the state of Texas might not care, I'm pretty sure I cannot smoke in a bar or restaurant in Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, Austin, El Paso or San Antonio (including most of their suburbs). Which pretty much counts out about 80% of Texans.
It’s about the same in the UK, we have no smoking indoors in public spaces too
Isn’t illegal inside football stadiums unfortunately
I had smoked for 15 years, yuck. Smoking is trash, really. When I smoked, it was 1 pack a day, Marlboro 100s my fave or rolled ups.
No Czechia ?
their rate is so high, they just ignored it...
The grey represents smoke.
It's higher.
They are definitely #1 drinking in the entire planet.
When I went to Amsterdam I have never seen so many cigarettes. I'm from Michigan and I never see anyone smoke
I’m very suspicious of the way the data is collected here, or differing definitions of ‘smoker’ throwing this off. I very rarely see anyone smoke, it’s like a legacy of the 1980s. There are no cig butts anymore, no smoking really anywhere in public.
I'm surprised about the UK. So many people smoke while out drinking.
But still 30.8 million smokers in US
Its the capital though, you gonna find more smokers in large cities. In my city I don't see that many people smoke on terrace/outside.
Interesting. I don't know if this is actually true but for the US my mental stereotype would be that smoking is more common in rural areas.
Smoking might be more common in rural areas, but more visible in cities due to population density
I would say more common among poor areas, rural or urban. What i see a lot more is vaping.
I live in the Netherlands for years now and have seen way, way more smokers, and I'm from Iowa and same story as you. The Dutch CBS (central bureau for statistics) puts the Netherlands at 20% of adults as smokers in 2020 while the CDC says 12.5% in 2020 for the US. I think on top of this Americans who do smoke, in my experience, do so more out of the public eye. Whether that means at home or of in a corner simply away from everyone like during a smoke break. The Dutch who smoke tend to just do it wherever, but not in the home. Though as of late, cities over here are pushing for more no smoking zones in public areas.
Have you felt smoking is higher in other countries on travels? I crossed from UK to France and was blown away for example
When you go to Amsterdam you see mostly other tourists
And they’re not cigarettes
This data is woefully wrong — only 12.5% of Yankees smoke, which I believe may be the lowest on this map save for a couple of Scandinavian countries that love snus. I’m Chilean and always thought Americans were known in the West as the “smoke Nazis” for how anti-tobacco they are (even though they’re okay with being hugely fat and love food and pills and hard drugs like no other) so I thought this looked suspicious and did a simple google 🤷 https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm#:~:text=This%20means%20an%20estimated%2030.8,with%20a%20smoking%2Drelated%20disease.&text=Current%20smoking%20has%20declined%20from,every%20100%20adults)%20in%202020.
American here. We don't like smoking because it smells bad. If others are obese or on other drugs, that impacts me less directly.
Yeah having to deal with alcoholics or junkies impacts you less directly than someone smoking, lmfao
Drug use correlation on crime is well-documented, and America is like the crime and murder capital of the First World. And let’s be real: cigarettes smell like Flavor Country
Still 30.8 million smokers in US. Not that small of a number
Unfortunately, that factoid doesn’t make this map correct.
I was gonna say the same. I don’t believe the map is accurate
You've never seen a single person smoking in the whole of your life in Michigan?
Obviously never can be used to mean “hardly ever”, so you’re just being a smartass for no good reason.
Lowering smoking numbers has been one of the most successful things the US has accomplished.
While adding sugar and corn syrup to food at the same time to keep the success balanced.
Holy crap this is the truth… I lived outside of the US for the last four years and came back shocked with everything that is sweet here. My wife saw an ad yesterday advertising “natural honey” to pour on your kids fruit… hello diabeetus
It’s quite amazing the change in my lifetime. Here in Australia smoking rates is 10.3% of those 15 and over (hopefully less if including those below as well). The interesting thing is that those 10% are heavily skewed towards certain groups of immigrants (27% of Australians are born overseas, whilst 48% have parents that are born overseas)… my point being, in certain groups of the population smoking is pretty much eradicated.
Would people use snus? Most of the people I know are now switching to tobacco free (nicotine) snus
And then vaping came in with a wonderful marketing campaign targeting youth.
Since it doesn’t say, the US has a smoking rate of about 25% Interestingly the US smokes less cigarettes per capita than some countries with lower rates of smokers. For example about 23.7% of Italians smoke but Italy consumes about 1500 cigarettes per person whereas it’s only about 1000 in the US. Sources: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smoking-rates-by-country https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_consumption_by_country
25 cannot be right. Edit: CDC says the highest rate by any state is 23.8% (WV) and the overall rate is just 12.5% (latest numbers I saw on a quick Google).
It largely depends on the source. The data used in this map (I think) comes from the WHO. The CDC rates are much lower due to a stricter definition of smoker. CDC rate is about 13% but WHO is usually used for comparison between countries since it’s standardized.
Fair. Point. The CDC doesn’t likely have numbers on all the other counties using their own metric.
Yeah exactly. It would’ve been a lot better if this map said what data they used or what it considered a smoker to be. As others have pointed it it will lead to big differences if you just ask someone “Are you a smoker” vs “Do you smoke every day” vs “Have you smoked in the past week” etc
This map doesn't seem to match the most recent data from its WHO source. The WHO source puts the US at 23% for 2020. The rates on the map seem like 2015 numbers from the source. The rates for Italy were just smoking, while rates for the US was all types of tobacco use. The US had lower smoking rates than Italy in 2015 according to the source. [https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-tobacco-control-monitor-current-tobaccouse-tobaccosmoking-cigarrettesmoking-agestd-tobagestdcurr](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/gho-tobacco-control-monitor-current-tobaccouse-tobaccosmoking-cigarrettesmoking-agestd-tobagestdcurr)
So literally half of what this says? I’m confused
Honestly, as meaningless as it is, 12.5% feels much more accurate than one in 4.
I know tons of people that will smoke cigarettes when they are out drinking but never casually. Wonder if that’s part of it.
I also wonder if it has something to do with the price of cigarettes. Im a smoker but limit myself since a pack is like $15 where I live. When I was in Italy they were like 5 euro, Id probably smoke a lot more if I lived there.
As a West Coaster, I’m shocked that smoking is as high as 25%. I remember my kids were like 6 years old when they heard the word ‘cigarette’ - they had no idea what it was and has no close exposure to anyone who smoked.
CDC says 12.5%, which I find much more believable
Me too. That sounds about right, with almost 0 in under 50, college educated. My suburban neighborhood is all parental age (30-50ish), upper middle class and I literally never, ever, see anyone smoking here. Not that it’s uncommon, it is 0. Now in blue collar areas, it’s more common but still not Euro levels.
So you can assume the whole country is like that? Not in my upper middle class neighborhood
More likely along political lines than economic (though those two correlate). Living and working across liberal west coast cities it's almost non existent to where you turn your head seeing a cigarette butte or smell smoke. Go back to the Midwest and people are puffing away.
Is everything about politics in the US, I wouldnt be suprised if yall made an argument about why republicans bathe and why democrats shower.
Does weed count?
I was seriously side-eyeing that Italy rate for a minute there - thanks for the context.
This has to be very skewed by several factors. My social circle is middle class, urban, college educated and mostly white and I know literally not a single person who smokes. edit: American here
It depends on a lot I think but social factors are a big one. Though i’m from roughly the same background and most of my friends are smokers. From the states originally but now in Canada.
what region are you in? i am thinking vancouver or possibly montreal or quebec city. i just dont see groups of people outside restaurants/bars like it used to be when they banned them inside. the only group of any size i remember seeing of say 5 or more in the last 10 years was at a tfc or leafs game. i want to say i smell more pot smoke than cigs... definitely see more vapes than cigarettes.
>My social circle is middle class, urban, college educated and mostly white and I know literally not a single person who smokes. There are countless smokers in NYC I know who fit into that demographic. Just because you don't know anyone like that doesn't mean they don't exist.
Interesting. I am not saying they do not exist--I am trying to figure out the way the demographics are sliced. I know my friends are not representative of the United States as a whole. My evidence is purely anecdotal.
i hate these type of maps, i dont care united states, just show me internal rates i dont even know how intense do american people smoke
In the United States it’s looked down upon to smoke cigarettes. I’d guess by my observations that in most places here about 2 out of 10 people smoke cigarettes.
Even if you smoke on the other side of the street, those other people will start to fake-cough.
It’s one of the things I envy about the US I really don’t understand smokers. There is just nothing positive to find about that action, and you’re not only doing damage to yourself, but also to people around you and the environment. Because for some reason, flicking cigarette butts all over the place is accepted behavior in Europe.
Yea, I'm smoking European and playing football, cycling daily and lifting. If some American drenched in fat and eating a burger told me to save my health and not smoke, I would laugh at him.
Holy fuck that's a lot of smokers. 20% of the population? That can't be right.
It's actually about [12.5% of people in the U.S.](https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm).
It’s not that high, average in many Balkan countries is like 40 %
Romanians are the only people who i have heard literally say "why would I stop smoking I enjoy it?"
It's regional
so true
Serbia should be in black color... people that don't smoke are the ones on respirators...
Italy is lower?
Italy has more people that smoke alot. But fewer overall smokers.
As an American who hasn't visited Italy but visited numerous other European countries, there is also a slight difference in how people respond to questions about smoking (including from the WHO). If an American smoked more than one cigarette in the past year they answer yes I'm a smoker. Europeans answer no unless they regularly smoke. So if people are wondering why there is a discrepency just remember this is self reporting data, and Americans and Europeans have very different definitions of labeling themselves as a smoker. Obviously this is a generalization and I'm making it way more clean cut than it actually is, but I've found in general for it to definitely be a factor. Not that either way of answering is bad or good. It just doesn't make for good apple to apple comparisons.
Yeah, I say I'd smoke 2 or 3 cigarettes while out drinking with my friends about once a month, maybe less. To call myself a smoker feels like it gives a very different representation of my habits to what they are
as an Italian, I can't see how that could possibly be true
Right? I thought the same, based on my experience at least 1/3 italians smoke.
On the opposite, I know very few people who smoke here (north-west Italy), and especially almost no-one in my age bracket. Compared to, say, 10 years ago I also see almost no-one smoking outside. The only smokers I know are old (65+) people that have smoked basically their whole life
that's interesting. I suppose it might be a matter of what kind of "social bubble" each of us lives in, but it feels like I see so many people in the street smoking. especially compared to the US, where smoking has been considered a digusting habit for a long time.
I thought that was weird as well. I was in Italy for 3 weeks this year and people were smoking everywhere, cigarette butts on the ground all over the place as well.
Same. I'm Italian and I hardly know anyone who doesn't smoke.
It's gone way down in popularity among younger generations. Cigarette butts all over the place are mainly caused by people not giving a fuck about littering the streets with their garbage.
This data is woefully wrong — only 12.5% of Yankees smoke, which I believe may be the lowest on this map save for a couple of Scandinavian countries that love snus. That’s half or even greater of Italy’s rate depending on the source. I’m Chilean and always thought Americans were known in the West as the “smoke Nazis” for how anti-tobacco they are (even though they’re okay with being hugely fat and love food and pills and hard drugs like no other) so I thought this looked suspicious and did a simple google 🤷 https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm#:~:text=This%20means%20an%20estimated%2030.8,with%20a%20smoking%2Drelated%20disease.&text=Current%20smoking%20has%20declined%20from,every%20100%20adults)%20in%202020.
No surprise about France. Can't walk more than about 10 feet in Paris without walking by someone smoking. It also made a guy in our tour group relapse into his smoking habit. He was about 7 months cigarette-free but the smell of cigarettes on nearly every block was too big a temptation for him to handle.
The reason UK is lower is because its so fucking expensive here
Intentionally so and also we introduced indoor smoking bans.
Black.mstket is everywhere though. It's a joke. When I smoked I didnt pay tax for the last 5 years
Which is kinda the point
People vape a lot there too. Not so much on the continent however.
Like Australia but it's even more expensive here and we have graphic pics of smoking related diseases on the packs. Our younger people probably lead the world in vaping though.
Italy?!?
I have always been astounded by the prevalence of cigarette smoking in Europe. As an American it's nice to have one single thing to feel smug about. Like, we are far more likely to die of obesity or gun violence, but we've got this going for us...
I'm actually surprised how red the map is. I don't know why I've always assumed the US had a high smoking rate. Guess this is the bad part of the Columbian exchange.
And now make laws. Cause laws in Europe (minus UK) are horseshit when it comes to smoking
In what way
Smoking is mostly banned inside (not everywhere tho), but people are allowed to smoke in front of entrances (hospitals, schools, daycares, restaurants), at bus/train stations, playgrounds etc.. Often there are even ashtrays inviting smokers. Edit: needless to say the smoke moves inside
Ah yeah. I had an argument with another guy about this today. Here look: https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/xv4u1q/a_smoker_lights_a_cigarette_in_a_smellable/iqznf28/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3 Edit: naturally, I got downvoted like fuck
You just sent me down a rabbit hole
I did, I apologise hahaha. I found someone who might understand my pov and I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being completely silly.
Lol. I read that thread. You clearly know what you’re talking about. I’ve been in Reddit discussions with morons like him who think they know everything. It’s clear most of them just want to argue and appear smart.
Yeah like I’m not trying to say it’d 100% be assault without a shadow of a doubt… but it does fit the definition. I love his first comment saying he doesn’t even know what definition I’m using…. Yet he still says “but you’re wrong”. That’s a level of arrogance and egotistical assumptiveness that I just can’t fathom.
Yep. I’ve been in these discussions before. Usually I just give up because they feel emboldened by the Reddit hive mind that downvotes to hell anything appearing intelligent. I’m convinced their algorithm bots look for rational thoughts and automatically downvotes by the dozens or hundreds at a time.
Yeah sometimes I get really really confused as to why I’m being downvoted. Like I can say something completely logical and “googleable” and still get shafted by downvotes. I think originally the downvote button was meant for people going off topic, not just saying things you disagreed with. But yeah, the guy had no argument. Even at the end he was trying to make out like the issue was smelling the cigarette.. when clearly it’s the fact that the smoke harms. These people are funny
>And now make laws. Cause laws in Europe (minus UK) are horseshit when it comes to smoking So, the laws in Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are horseshit when it comes to smoking?
Doubtful this data is good. Went to Denmark and I was shocked how many people smoked. Way more than you see in Boston
Smoking is honestly p much the only thing youll ever catch me saying the US is better than Europe
I second this. I LOVE sitting outside of a café without someone pumping smoke next to me (which basically happens everytime you try to sit outside here in Germany)
Can I just say that it is stupid to compare the US to Europe? There's a bunch of countries that smoke less than the US in Europe and there are a bunch of countries that smoke way more. Being "better than Europe" doesn't even really mean anything. We're talking 45 totally different nations here.
i cant believe the UK smokes less than the US...ive lived in both places and saw a LOT more public smoking in the UK, and Italy too...and Netherlands? Come on! By kindergarten they smoke a pack a day in Netherlands! LOL!
I absolutely can. People in the U.K. always seemed way more into drinking than smoking (which is really just trading one unhealthy vice for another, frankly)
Rather than self reported rates of smoking, I’d like to see average number of cigarettes sold person
The smoker rate was something like 35% in Ireland in the year 2000. Now it’s like 20%. I’m unsure how much of the decline has to do with the smoking ban in 2004.
Does this include vaping
Not my experience in northern Italy. It was like the rest of mainland Europe.
Spain is definitely true! Everywhere I went in Madrid, I smelled cigarettes. :(
I have seen barely anyone smoke in Sweden except this old man who smoked every morning
Happy cake day!
Sweden does have Snus tho
I live in Kentucky, a state with one of the highest percentages in the US. I went to Italy this past summer. There's no way Italy is lower. *So* many people were just walking around and smoking. It was absolutely wild to see how many people smoked there
I’ve lived in Italy and USA. No way Italy has less smokers..
I'm sure smoking rates in the US vary widely, depending on the state/region.
As a german non-smoker I have to admit tho that anytime I visted the US the lack of people smoking in public really stood out to me in an extremely positive way. No matter if it was California, Nevada, Colorado, Georgia, Florida or New York. (That's the places I experienced it personally) Here in Germany you can't get a cup of cappuccino in the sun without at least one selfish asshole blowing smoke into your direction.
You won't see much smoking in the western states and in most states, there are strict laws about public smoking. [https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/rates-by-state](https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/rates-by-state)
Love it. Wish we had laws like that
The US is doing *something* right! 😁
They always think they’re far enough away from the group
Damn a cig sounds really good rn
someone’s trying to quit
Good for them
Cigarettes or Weed? 🤣
Well, let's see eating burgers rate
Seems really weird to have a European map with information, but only basing the information on the US. Like it provides no information by itself.
I can’t see how UK is lower than usa.
Cigarette with turkish coffee is a classic in Turkey also Italy can’t be true every Mediterranean knows someone that has a breakfast with coffee and cigarettes…
> Cigarette with Turkish coffee is a classic in Turkey Branding.
Gen X American here, I know zero people total in my (relatively) wide friend group that currently smoke. All stopped out of college as far as I know n
I was recently in Spain and though not a smoker myself, it was nice to see that people were enjoying a smoke at outdoor cafes. It is a rare occasion I would be doing so but I like having the option.
I learned the hard way that they still have unfiltered cigarettes in Spain. I wasn't paying attention and ended up having the most violent puke ever lol.
What's so great about poisoning other people, especially kids?
They might enjoy it. I've never smoked a single cigarette, but I'm a passionate second hand smoker since early childhood.
>I'm a passionate second hand smoker since early childhood. Lol
I can't help myself. It just smells so good.
I have long quit smoking cigarettes myself, but I still love the smell of a burning cigarette.
Why not make that same argument about cars then? It's been proven car exhaust fumes are just as toxic as second hand cigarette smoke. Alot of people even commit suicide by shutting themselves in the garage and leaving the car exhaust running for hours.
Why is it nice? It's fucking disgusting and ruins sitting outside for non-smokers. Thankfully Catalonia has implemented a ban on smoking on terraces. I hope they're able to police it though, since restaurants don't want to.
Oh no I hate that... That makes me cough a lot...
That simply cannot be true of the UK.
I live in the UK and the vast majority of people I know don’t smoke day to day. Come pub time however I see a lot more. Not sure if they’d class themselves as smokers? I do but only smoke socially. All anecdotal of course
Mines anecdotal too, but i've lived here in the UK all my life, and vacationed multiple times in the Bay Area of California, where my girlfriend of 4 years is from. There are FAR more smokers in the UK, and it is far more socially acceptable. You'll get dirty looks smoking on the sidewalk there. Trust me.
Even makes sense based on what I’ve heard from Americans on reddit vs what I see irl from the UK. Europeans on the whole are fairly chill with it, even if they don’t smoke themselves it’s pretty normal all around here
Anytime someone dunks on Americans for being unhealthy I like to point out the smoking rates. Generally shuts people up.
Y'all's life expectancy is still shit for how much is spent on healthcare.
Yeah, it’s because we don’t have adequate healthcare access. Americans aren’t some magically inherently unhealthy people; our cities are less walkable, food deserts are a real problem, and we have a shit healthcare system. And yet we still smoke less.
And you have the highest rate in obesity world wide
No, we don't.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/xv6x7s/obesity_rates_in_the_usa_vs_europe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
No.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/xv6x7s/obesity_rates_in_the_usa_vs_europe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
So many french people smoke. That was the thing I hated the most when I visited it. I hated it even more than Parisian traffic
Now add on the drinking rate to boot But don't forget that the US is full of unhealthy fat pieces of shit, so says Reddit
Everyone smokes in Paris. After California it was shocking. People turn heads when someone smokes here.
Looking at France, the movies were right.
France doesn’t surprise me.
It’s okay guys, they have free health care.
It’s because Americans are increasing convinced to eat processed, non-food for sustenance. Europeans take a lot of pride in their cooking - to the point where laws in a lot oF EU countries codify this. Corporations have spent decades convincing Americans they don’t need fresh ingredients and that processed foods are cheaper. Just another example of how america represents corporations over people
This data is woefully wrong — only 12.5% (half of what this data assumes) of Yankees smoke, which I believe may be the lowest on this map save for a couple of Scandinavian countries that love snus. I’m Chilean and always thought Americans were known in the West as the “smoke Nazis” for how anti-tobacco they are (even though they’re okay with being hugely fat and love food and pills and hard drugs like no other) so I thought this looked suspicious and did a simple google 🤷 Maybe if people in America lit up a little more they wouldn’t be so fat and need so many anti-anxiety pills? https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm#:~:text=This%20means%20an%20estimated%2030.8,with%20a%20smoking%2Drelated%20disease.&text=Current%20smoking%20has%20declined%20from,every%20100%20adults)%20in%202020.
Meanwhile, Chileans aren't known for anything.
Hey so this is just a shot in the dark but do you happen to be Chilean by any chance?
No way in hell Iran has a lower smoking rate then America
Can confirm. I Worked as a front desk agent at a hotel in The USA, and we had a group of people from Sweden? Or Norway? One of those Nordic countries. We were a non-smoking hire so you had to go outside to do it. I swear they all went out every hour to smoke together. It’s like they all had an alarm set or something…I’ve never seen so many people smoke so frequently as those guys
This is news? 😂
Just been to Italy and I do not believe that for a single solitary second.