Croatian Women 2nd Biggest Smokers Behind Bangladesh
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Zagreb (photo: Marko Vrdoljak / Zagreb Tourist Board)
According to research data from the Croatian Institute of Public Health, Croatians are among the biggest smokers in the world…
Croatia is ranked the 7th biggest smoking nation out of 22 countries and 3 billion people. Croatia is ranked ahead of Poland and Romania. When it comes to female smoking, Croatia is ranked 2nd in the world only behind women from Bangladesh.
According to the Croatian Institute of Public Health’s data, 31% of people above the age of 15 smoke. On average they smoking 16 cigarettes per day with the average monthly spend on cigarettes 512 kuna (70 euros) per person.
“There are a variety of circumstances. Multifactorial. Unemployment and higher levels of stress certainly plays a role,” Tomislav Benjak from the Department of Public Health told RTL.
Around 3,000 people die from lung cancer a year in Croatia.
“Smoking certainly is something that is proven to be harmful and is proven to increase the incidence of lung cancer, and unlike some of the harmful environmental factors it can be avoided,” Chairman of the Department of Oncology at Zagreb Hospital Stjepko Pleština said.
The number of smokers in the EU is on the decline, but still data shows that 1 in 4 are smokers.
