Table 1

Summary of survey details and methods for 27 European Union (EU) countries, and the Eurobarometer survey

Country/country codeSurvey nameYear of the surveyMain question for measurement of smoking prevalence*Age rangeNumber of survey participantsResponse rate (%)Sampling methodData collection methodNational Survey Smoking prevalence estimates (%)Eurobarometer smoking prevalence estimates in year 2006 (%) (all smokers included except where specified)
DailyOccasionalTotalRegularOccasionalTotal
EU7Eurobarometer2006Which of the following applies to you?
you smoke packed cigarettes/you smoke roll-up cigarettes/you smoke cigars or a pipe/you chew tobacco or take snuff/you used to smoke but you have stopped.
Do you smoke regularly, or occasionally?
For cigarette smokers:
Do you smoke every day?		15+27 084
(EU 27)		NAMultistage random sampleFace-to-face computer assisted interviewEU25, EU27 (estimated)27.2, 27.04.5, 4.432.0,§ 31.6
Austria
(AT)11		Health Interview Survey2006/2007Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally;
no		15+15 47463.1Multistage probability sampleComputer assisted personal interview23.2NANA25.15.931.0
Belgium
(BE)12–14		Health Interview Survey Belgium2004Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally;
no		15+653061.4Stratified multistage cluster sampleSelf-administered questionnaire (delivered with personal interview)23.73.927.621.14.7§26.0
Bulgaria
(BG)† 15 16		National Behavioural Risk Factor Survey among population aged 25–642007Current users:
daily/occasional smoking		25–643000NAMultistage cluster sampleInterviewer administered questionnaire39.65.645.232.43.2§36.0
Cyprus
(CY)17		Health Survey2003Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		15+561791.9Simple systematic random sampleComputer assisted personal interview23.93.827.725.75.331.0
Czech Republic (CZ)18Sample Survey of the Health Status and Life Style of the Population in the Czech Republic Focused on Drug Use2004Do you currently smoke cigarettes?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no
I don't smoke cigarettes, but smoke a pipe or cigars		18–64352668.2Randomised stratified (quota) sampleFace-to-face interview26.88.837.326.31.728.0**
(29.0)
Denmark
(DK)19–21		Health and Morbidity Denmark 2005: development since 19872005Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		16+14 56666.7Random sample composed of two subsamples: reinterview sample and regional samplesComputer assisted personal interview; self-administered questionnaire29.66.135.727.54.532.0
Estonia
(EE)22		Health Behaviour Among Estonian Adult Population2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		16–64286757.3Simple random sampleSelf-administered postal questionnaire27.87.335.128.74.333.0
Finland
(FI)23		Health Behaviour and Health Among the Finnish Adult Population2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		15–64325565.0Simple random sampleSelf-administered postal questionnaire21.46.127.520.35.726.0
France
(FR)24 25		Health Barometer2005Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		12–7530 51457.9Two stage random samplingTelephone interview24.95.029.929.43.633.0
Germany
(DE)26–28		Mikrozensus2005Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 regularly
occasionally
no		15+830 000Approximately 84.2% (tobacco questions)One stage cluster sampleComputer assisted personal interview23.0††4.027.025.54.530.0
Greece
(EL)‡ 29		European Community Household Panel SurveyPublished 2005NA25–595489NANANANANA40.037.44.642.0
Hungary
(HU)† 30–32		National Health Interview Survey2003Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		18+507272.0Multistage cluster sampleFace-to-face interview (partly self-administered)30.43.433.833.52.536.0
Ireland
(IE)33–35		Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLAN)2007 (data collection started 2006)Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		18+10 36462.0Multistage probability sampleFace-to-face interview24.14.929.025.53.529.0
Italy
(IT)36–38		Aspects of Daily Living2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		14+48 834 (50 000 given in published report)81.3Two stage stratified sampleFace-to-face interviewNANA22.723.95.631.0
Latvia
(LV)39		Health Behaviour Among Latvian Adult Population2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		15–64158454.6Simple random sampleSelf-administered postal questionnaire30.44.935.331.05.036.0
Lithuania
(LT)40		Health Behaviour Among Lithuanian Adult Population2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		20–64173959.2Simple probability sampleSelf-administered postal questionnaire26.55.331.826.27.834.0
Luxembourg (LU)41Tobacco in Luxembourg2007Daily/occasional smoking15+2523NARandom quota samplingFace-to-face interviews21.04.025.023.72.326.0
Malta
(MT)42		Lifestyle Survey2007How many cigarettes do you smoke every day?18+136968.5Systematic random sampleSelf-administered postal questionnaireNANA26.221.53.525.0
(25.0)
The Netherlands (NL)43Monitoring Trends in Smoking Behaviour in Dutch Population2006Smoking behaviour:
Smokes (daily/non-daily)/never smoked/formerly smoked		15+18 031NAFrom TNS databaseSelf-administered web survey questionnaire23.24.928.2‡‡23.55.529.0
Poland
(PL)44		Health Status of Population in Poland2004Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		15+35 24870.0Stratified two stage sampleFace-to-face interview26.34.030.330.14.6§35.0
Portugal
(PT)45 46		Portuguese National Health Survey2005/2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		10+41 19376.0Stratified systematic cluster sampleComputer assisted personal interview17.62.119.721.42.624.0
Romania
(RO)47		Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the General Population on the Consumption of Tobacco and the Legislative Provisions2007Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		15–59243487.0Multistage probability sampleFace-to-face interviewNANA30.027.03.7§31.0
Slovakia
(SK)48		Prevalence of Drug Use in Slovakia, and Citizens' Views on the Problems Associated with Drug Addiction2006Occasional/daily smoker/non-smoker18+1439 (data presented for only one of the 3 samples)NARandom quota sampleTelephone interview25.013.038.020.34.5§25.0
Slovenia
(SI)49 50		European Health Interview Survey2007Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		15+Approximately 231268.0Two stage probability sampleFace-to-face interview18.96.024.917.95.123.0
Spain
(ES)51–53		National Health Survey2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		16+29 47864.3Stratified multistage samplingFace-to-face interview26.43.129.530.93.134.0
Sweden
(SE)54–57		Health on Equal Terms (national sample results)2006Do you smoke now?
 yes:
 daily;
occasionally
no		16–84599560.1Stratified multistage probability samplePostal self-administered questionnaire14.110.424.514.43.618.0
UK58–60General Household Survey (excludes Northern Ireland)2006Do you smoke cigarettes at all nowadays? yes/no16+18 21476.0Stratified two stage probability sampleComputer assisted personal interviewNANA22.030.41.632.0
(33.0)

  • ↵* Summarised to provide key outcomes available.

  • ↵† Exact questions unknown; details of methodology provided from WHO Global InfoBase.

  • ↵‡ Details of methods unknown; data provided from secondary source.

  • ↵§ Excludes small proportion of smokers for whom regular/occasional smoking status is unknown: 0.3% Belgium, 0.4% Bulgaria, 1.6% Italy, 0.4% Poland, 0.3% Romania, 0.2% Slovakia, 0.3% EU27.

  • ↵ Daily/non-daily smoking of cigarettes and overall cigarette smoking prevalence (overall smoking prevalence estimate in brackets).

  • ↵** For Czech Republic national survey data on daily and occasional smoking refer to cigarette smoking only, but total figure represents overall smoking (including 1.7% cigars and pipes smokers). For Eurobarometer survey data regular and occasional smoking represents daily/non-daily cigarette smoking and overall cigarette smoking (overall smoking prevalence in brackets).

  • ↵†† Represents regular smoking.

  • ↵‡‡ 0.1% not known daily/occasional smoking status.

  • EU27, 27 European Union members; NA, data not available; TNS, TNS Opinion database (http://www.tns-opinion.com/home/).