Smokers (i24)
- 31/10/2025
- objective
- assessment assessment
In 2023, in Belgium 12.8% of the population aged 15 and over smoked daily. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must be reduced to 9.2%. This objective will not be reached by continuing the trend since 2001 (data available in November 2025). The proportion of daily smokers is therefore developing unfavourably.
Daily smokers - Belgium - trend assessment
percentage of population aged 15 and over
| 2000 | 2001 | 2013 | 2018 | 2020 | 2023 | 2025 | 2030 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| observations | -- | 24.1 | 18.9 | 15.4 | -- | 12.8 | -- | -- |
| trend and extrapolation (November 2025) | -- | 24.8 | 18.5 | 15.6 | 14.4 | 12.9 | 12.0 | 10.8 |
| objective 2030 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 9.2 |
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Smokers - Belgium and international comparison
percentage of population aged 15 and over
| 2006 | 2009 | 2012 | 2014 | 2017 | 2020 | 2023 | 2023//2006 | 2023//2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 26.0 | 30.0 | 27.0 | 25.0 | 19.0 | 21.0 | 21.0 | -1.2 | -1.9 |
| EU27 | 31.0 | 29.0 | 28.0 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 25.0 | 24.0 | -1.5 | -1.3 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Note: The 95% confidence interval for the share of daily smokers in 2023 is 11,5% to 14,1% for Belgium.
Source: Eurostat (2025), Smoking prevalence, sdg_03_30, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat, last update of data 13/03/2025 23:00 (consulted on 21/08/2025).
Smokers and daily smokers - Belgium
percentage of population aged 15 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2017 | 2018 | 2020 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| smokers | -- | -- | -- | 26.0 | -- | 30.0 | 27.0 | -- | 25.0 | 19.0 | -- | 21.0 | 21.0 | -- | -- |
| daily smokers | 25.5 | 24.1 | 24.0 | -- | 20.7 | -- | -- | 18.9 | -- | -- | 15.4 | -- | 12.8 | -2.6 | -3.8 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||||||||
Source: Eurostat (2025), Smoking prevalence, sdg_03_30, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat, last update of data 13/03/2025 23:00 (consulted on 21/08/2025) and Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Daily smokers by region - Belgium
percentage of population aged 15 and over, fitted trends
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | 27.3 | 25.3 | 23.7 | 22.5 | 18.3 | 16.6 | 11.7 | -3.2 | -6.8 |
| Flemish Region | 24.1 | 22.9 | 22.9 | 18.8 | 17.7 | 13.4 | 11.3 | -2.9 | -3.4 |
| Walloon Region | 27.6 | 25.9 | 26.2 | 24.2 | 21.5 | 18.8 | 16.1 | -2.1 | -3.1 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Note: The 95% confidence interval for the share of daily smokers in 2023 is 8,9% to 14,4% for Brussels, 9,9% to 12,8% for Flanders and 13,2% to 19% for Wallonia.
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Daily smokers by sex - Belgium
percentage of population aged 15 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| females | 19.9 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 17.9 | 16.4 | 12.1 | 11.1 | -2.2 | -1.7 |
| males | 31.4 | 28.5 | 28.2 | 23.9 | 21.6 | 18.9 | 14.5 | -2.9 | -5.2 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Daily smokers by education - Belgium
percentage of population aged 15 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| primary education | 26.5 | 20.9 | 26.6 | 22.3 | 18.7 | 14.2 | -- | -- | -- |
| lower secondary education | 32.3 | 24.6 | 27.8 | 26.4 | 23.2 | 20.0 | 18.3 | -2.2 | -1.8 |
| higher secondary education | 27.5 | 27.3 | 27.2 | 25.5 | 25.5 | 21.0 | 18.2 | -1.6 | -2.8 |
| higher education | 19.5 | 20.6 | 18.1 | 13.2 | 11.8 | 10.1 | 8.0 | -3.4 | -4.6 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Note: In 2023 there are no data for primary education.
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Daily smokers by income - Belgium
percentage of population aged 15 and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2023 | 2023//1997 | 2023//2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quintile 1 | 28.1 | 27.3 | 29.8 | 26.6 | 26.1 | 19.9 | 17.4 | -1.8 | -2.6 |
| quintile 2 | 27.3 | 23.6 | 25.1 | 23.1 | 21.3 | 16.6 | 17.6 | -1.7 | 1.2 |
| quintile 3 | 28.2 | 24.0 | 22.6 | 21.3 | 20.2 | 16.0 | 13.7 | -2.7 | -3.1 |
| quintile 4 | 24.2 | 24.2 | 24.0 | 23.6 | 19.3 | 13.1 | 9.8 | -3.4 | -5.6 |
| quintile 5 | 19.1 | 23.7 | 19.5 | 14.5 | 12.2 | 13.3 | 7.5 | -3.5 | -10.8 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||
Source: Sciensano (2025), Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://healthinformation.sciensano.be/shiny/hisia/ (consulted on 21/8/2025).
Definition: share of the population aged 15 and over reporting daily smoking. The data come from the National Health Surveys carried out by the Scientific Institute of Public Health/Sciensano. For the international comparison, data measuring the current proportion of smokers (not just daily smokers) are used, and they come from Eurostat. Since both indicators are based on surveys, a margin of uncertainty should be taken into account. This margin of uncertainty increases as the indicator is calculated on smaller sub-populations. The Sciensano website presents the data with confidence intervals and for European data, they are available from Eurostat upon request.
The following breakdowns are available for this indicator: region, sex, income and education.
Goal: the share of daily smokers must be reduced to 9.2% by 2030.
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 3.a: "Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate".
The Inter-federal Strategy 2022-2028 for a Tobacco-free Generation adopted in Belgium in 2022 aimed at reducing smoking among the general population, particularly the people aged 15-24 years (Cellule Générale des Politiques de Drogues, 2022). This strategy aims to reduce the proportion of daily smokers to 10% in 2028 and 5% in 2040. Assuming a constant reduction between 2028 and 2040, the goal would be 9.2% in 2030.
UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 3.a.1 - Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older (comparative rates by age).
Sources
- Cellule Générale des Politiques de Drogues (2022), Stratégie interfédérale 2022-2028 pour une génération sans tabac, https://organesdeconcertation.sante.belgique.be/sites/default/files/documents/2022_12_14_strategie_interfederale_tabac_et_annexe_final_fr.pdf (consulted on 21/08/2025).
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