Smoking

In 2022, 11 per cent of 20-64-year-olds smoked daily: 12 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women. Smoking has decreased among all age groups, particularly among men: for example, in the 1980s, one in three men and one in five women smoked daily.

Four out of five people who smoke daily are worried about the health effects of the habit. More than half would like to quit and a little over a third have attempted to quit smoking.

A majority of young Finnish people do not smoke. According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare six per cent of 14–20-year-old boys and four per cent of 14–20-year-old girls smoked daily in 2023.

According to the adolescent health and lifestyle survey 2019 smoking among parents continues to decrease. In 2019, 55 % of young people reported that their father had never smoked during their lifetime. The corresponding figure for mothers was 72 %.  All in all, it is rare that a young person is exposed to tobacco smoke for more than an hour per day.

Education has an impact

In 2022, 5.8 per cent of the population with high level education, 8 per cent of the population with medium level of education and 13.8 per cent of the population with low level education smoked daily.

According to the School Health Promotion Study (pdf) in 2023 there continued to be great difference between schools in the prevalence of smoking. Smoking is most common among students of vocational institutions. In 2023, 13 per cent of boys and 14 per cent of girls among 1st and 2nd-year students of vocational institutions smoked on a daily basis whereas only 2 per cent of boys and 3 per cent of girls in the 1st and 2nd year of general upper secondary school smoked daily. 6 per cent boys and 4 per cent of girls in grades 8 and 9 at comprehensive school smoked daily.

Daily smoking among university and university of applied science students has decreased over the last 15 years. In 2021, 5 per cent of students smoked daily (6 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men). Smoking is less common among university students (women 2 per cent, men 3 per cent) than among those studying at a university of applied sciences (women 10 per cent, men 7 per cent).

Help to quit smoking

Regardless of how long or how much you have smoked, it is always possible to quit smoking. Quitting is a decision you will not need to regret.

A guide to quitting smoking

Stumpp free helpline at 0800 148 484 (in Finnish). Calls are answered by healthcare professionals.