ESPAD average
Cigarette use (%) a
Average Min. Max.
Lifetime 46 16 66
Last 30 days 21 6 37
a Percentage of students reporting use of cigarettes.
Lifetime prevalence rates of cigarette smoking range between 16 % and 66 % (Table 5). In 15 of the 35 ESPAD countries, more than half of the students had tried smoking at least once. The highest prevalence rates were found in the Czech Republic (66 %), followed by Lithuania (65 %), Croatia and Slovakia (62 % each). The lowest rates were found in Iceland (16 %), Norway (28 %) and Malta (29 %). These rates were well below the average of 46 % for all ESPAD countries. The average prevalence of cigarette smoking was about the same among boys (47 %) and girls (44 %). Across countries, boys were generally more likely than girls to have tried cigarettes. Countries with the largest gender differences were Moldova (50 % for boys versus 15 % for girls), Georgia (54 % versus 30 %) and Albania (49 % versus 27 %). The largest gender differences where girls reported higher rates were found in Monaco (61 % for girls versus 51 % for boys), Bulgaria (60 % versus 51 %) and Malta (33 % versus 25 %).
Table 5. Cigarette use: prevalence of lifetime and 30-day use (percentage)
Country Lifetime 30-day Lifetime 30-day
Boys Girls Boys Girls
Albania 37 11 49 27 18 5
Austria 53 28 54 53 27 28
Belgium (Flanders) 31 15 33 29 16 14
Bulgaria 55 33 51 60 30 37
Croatia 62 33 61 63 32 34
Cyprus 35 18 40 31 22 13
Czech Republic 66 30 65 67 27 32
Estonia 60 21 62 57 22 21
Faroes 49 19 50 49 17 20
Finland 47 22 50 44 22 21
FYR Macedonia a 38 24 44 33 27 21
Georgia 43 18 54 30 26 9
Greece 39 19 41 37 21 17
Hungary 55 29 55 55 28 30
Iceland 16 6 16 16 5 7
Ireland 32 13 33 32 13 13
Liechtenstein 57 29 56 58 27 31
Lithuania 65 24 69 60 27 22
Malta 29 15 25 33 12 18
Moldova 33 9 50 15 16 3
Monaco 56 26 51 61 20 33
Montenegro 34 15 37 31 18 12
Netherlands 39 21 38 39 20 21
Norway 28 10 29 26 10 10
Poland 55 25 56 54 24 25
Portugal 37 19 37 37 18 21
Romania 52 30 53 51 31 30
Slovakia 62 31 62 61 29 34
Slovenia 47 22 44 50 19 25
Sweden 33 13 33 34 11 14
Ukraine 51 18 59 44 23 13
AVERAGE 46 21 47 44 22 21
Latvia 66 24 70 61 24 25
Spain 37 22 35 39 20 23
United States 20 6 20 19 6 6
a Official name former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
On average, 21 % of the students in the ESPAD countries had used cigarettes during the last 30 days. The highest rates were found in Italy (37 %), Bulgaria and Croatia (33 % each). Countries which reported last-30-day prevalence of 10 % or lower include Iceland (6 %), Moldova (9 %) and Norway (10 %). Countries with high smoking rates for boys were Italy, Romania and Croatia (31-35 %), and countries with high smoking rates for girls were Italy, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Croatia (34-40 %). The average ESPAD rates for boys and girls were about the same, and the gender rates were also close in most countries. In four countries, there are noticeable gender differences, with higher rates among boys than among girls: Georgia (26 % versus 9 %), Moldova (16 % versus 3 %), Albania (18 % versus 5 %) and Ukraine (23 % versus 13 %). In Monaco, rates were higher among girls than boys (33 % versus 20 %) as well as in Slovenia (25 % versus 19 %) and Malta (18 % versus 12 %).