The number of smokers in Germany increased sharply after the pandemic from before the beginning of 2020 when it was the rate of 27% to 34.5% of Germans over the age of 14 representing more than a third of the country’s inhabitants. The increase stands at a quarter more than before the volatile outbreak of the pandemic, which is believed to have left many Germans unhappy and discouraged from quitting smoking.
The sharp increase is not attributed more to young people who start smoking. “It is gratifying that fewer and fewer young people are smoking. Unfortunately, today we observe the opposite trend among adults. That is why there is still a lot to do. The example of New Zealand shows that things can be done differently. There, the sale of cigarettes is going to be completely banned in the long term,” said Christina Rummel, managing director of the German Centre for Dependency (DHS) in Hamm, Westphalia.
Katrin Schaller from the German Centre for Research on Cancer (DKFZ) in Heidelberg stresses that “Manufacturers are still allowed to advertise their lethal products at points of sale and sell them around the clock from numerous vending machines,” stating that the state is doing very little to combat smoking.
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