‘Incredible’ milestone reached as Sweden becomes a smoke-free country
Sweden has achieved its goal of having less than five percent of the population smoke regularly – and is therefore considered “tobacco-free”.
“It’s an incredible development that harmful behavior can be reduced to this extent,” Mats Ramstedt, research director at the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), told the TT news agency.
For the first time in CAN surveys, less than five percent smoke regularly in Sweden, according to the 2025 annual smoking report and snus habits, which means that the political goal of a smoke-free country in Sweden by 2025 has been achieved.
The proportion of daily smokers fell from 16 to 4.8 percent between 2003 and 2025, according to the new report.
“It’s not just the proportion of smokers that has decreased; we also see that people are smoking fewer cigarettes. Considering the health risks associated with smoking, this is obviously very positive,” Ramstedt said.
Smoking has been declining in Sweden since the late 1970s (for comparison: in the early 1980s, more than 30 percent of Swedes smoked daily), thanks to extensive prevention work, according to Ramstedt.
“The first, and perhaps most important, point is that accessibility has been significantly reduced. It is both harder and more expensive to smoke today,” Ramstedt said, citing taxes and real prices that have increased 45 percent since 2003.
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He also welcomed efforts to dissuade people from starting smoking, such as banning advertising, and to make it easier to quit.
At the same time, Sweden saw a sharp increase in the use of snus in recent years – small nicotine sachets have been popular in Sweden – a factor that the tobacco industry often points to as one of the main reasons for the low proportion of smokers in Sweden.
“It should be borne in mind that smoking had already declined sharply before the increase in snus. In a way, this argues against snus being a decisive factor in reducing smoking,” Ramstedt said, while admitting that further research into its role could provide useful information. “My assessment is that there is a lack of studies proving this, and I maintain that this is primarily due to preventative measures.”
