By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Bulgaria leads the EU: More than one in four Bulgarians aged 16 and older use tobacco or nicotine products every day, the highest rate among EU member states in 2025.
- Usage falls across Europe: Daily tobacco and nicotine use declined to 16.5% across the European Union from 17.5% in 2022, with decreases recorded in 17 member states.
- Sweden’s ranking reflects product mix: Sweden ranked second overall despite having the EU’s lowest cigarette smoking rate, illustrating the country’s widespread use of snus and nicotine pouches.
Europe’s nicotine landscape continues to evolve. In 2025, Bulgaria recorded the highest rate of daily tobacco and nicotine product use in the European Union.
Sweden—long recognized for having Europe’s lowest smoking prevalence—ranked second because the latest survey measures all major nicotine products, including nicotine pouches, heated tobacco products, and e-cigarettes.
According to newly released Eurostat data, 26.3% of Bulgarians aged 16 and older reported daily use of tobacco or related nicotine products. Sweden followed at 23.9%, narrowly ahead of Croatia at 23.6%. At the opposite end of the rankings, the Netherlands posted the EU’s lowest daily use rate at 9.9%, followed by Ireland (11.7%), Belgium (13.6%), and Luxembourg (13.8%).
The figures come from the 2025 European Health Interview Survey, which, unlike traditional smoking surveys, combines daily use of cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches into a single measure of nicotine consumption. That broader methodology provides a more comprehensive picture of how Europeans consume nicotine as smoke-free products continue to gain market share.
Across the EU, 16.5% of people aged 16 and older reported using at least one of those products daily, down from 17.5% in 2022. Meanwhile, 77.5% of respondents said they either did not use tobacco or nicotine products or had not used them in the previous 12 months.
The data also highlight significant demographic differences.
Daily use among men stood at 20.8%, compared with 12.6% among women, with both figures edging lower since 2022. By age, consumption peaked among adults 35 to 49 years old, with 21.3% reporting daily use, followed by those aged 25 to 34 (19.9%) and 50 to 64 (19.8%). The lowest rates were recorded among the youngest and oldest age groups, at 12.1% and 9.1%, respectively.
While Bulgaria led the overall nicotine-use rankings, Sweden’s position underscores the importance of distinguishing between nicotine use and cigarette smoking.
Separate Eurostat data released earlier this year showed that Sweden had the lowest smoking prevalence in the EU, with only 8% of people aged 15 and older smoking in 2023. By contrast, Bulgaria recorded the highest smoking rate at 37%, followed by Greece and Croatia.
That contrast reflects Sweden’s decades-long shift away from combustible cigarettes toward smokeless alternatives, including snus and, more recently, tobacco-free nicotine pouches. As a result, Sweden ranks among Europe’s leaders in overall nicotine use while maintaining the bloc’s lowest smoking rate.
The latest survey also shows that consumption patterns continue to diverge across the EU.
Between 2022 and 2025, daily tobacco and nicotine use declined in 17 member states. Spain and Luxembourg posted the largest decreases, each down 2.1 percentage points. By contrast, Croatia and Lithuania recorded the largest increases, with daily use rising 2.7 percentage points in both countries.
