EC: Bulgarians Smoke Like Hell, Drink Moderately

Society » HEALTH | December 8, 2010, Wednesday // 14:43
Bulgaria: EC: Bulgarians Smoke Like Hell, Drink Moderately Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria maintains its position as the second most smoking EU nation behind undisputed leader Greece, according to a comprehensive health study released by the European Commission and OECD.

The study, covering the 27 EU member states plus Turkey, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, found out that in 2008 29.1% of Bulgarians smoke on a daily basis. This is a rate similar to the next countries in the table, Ireland (29%), the Netherlands (28%), and Latvia (27.9%).

Greece is a comfortable first at 39.7% daily smokers. What is more, smoking rates in both Greece and Bulgaria have increased 1995-2008, countering an overall trend in Europe in lessening the prevalence of the habit.

To boot, Bulgarians lead the chart in the rates of weekly smoking among 15-year-olds. 36% of Bulgarian girls and 28% of boys smoke on a weekly basis, followed by young Austrians at 30% for girls and 24% for boys.

Nevertheless, if someone has convinced you Bulgarians are big drinkers, you should check your stats. At 10.9 liters per year per capita, Bulgaria sits comfortably at the middle of the scale, with an EU average of 10.8 liters.

Leaders are Luxemburg (15.5 l) and Estonia (14 l), while the least drinking Europeans are the Turks (1.4 l) and Maltese (5.3 l).

The EC/OECD report also revealed that Bulgaria and Romania are the EU nations with the shortest life expectancy.

You can access the full report HERE.

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Tags: greece, EU, alcohol, cigarettes, smokers, smoking, European Commission

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