One in three people in Cyprus now smoke

One in three people in Cyprus smoke, multinational tobacco company Philip Morris said on Tuesday presenting the results of its latest survey.

It added that most of these smokers are confused over what the most harmful aspect of conventional cigarettes is, while their knowledge of alternatives is based on rumours.

Philip Morris International Inc, which sells products – including Marlboro – in over 180 countries, commissioned the study from marRc on smoking in Cyprus, the third since 2022, to facilitate its bid to transition from cigarettes to alternative products.

Of the 809 people asked, all aged 21 or over, 32.6 per cent said they were smokers, while 67.2 per cent said they had quit or had never smoked.

All were asked what the most harmful aspect of smoking conventional cigarettes was. Interestingly, 44.3 per cent said it was tar, 28.7 per cent nicotine, 8.9 per cent addiction and 6.2 per cent carbon monoxide.

However, only 4.6 per cent cited the burning of tobacco, which experts said was in fact the most harmful as it released a cocktail of chemicals believed to be responsible for a series of smoking-related illnesses.

Despite the availability of alternative smoking products, the number of smokers of conventional cigarettes had not dropped, with 30.1 per cent in 2023 and 31.3 per cent in 2022.

Among smokers, incentives to quit were 73.3 per cent health reasons, 45.3 per cent financial, 36.1 per cent the need not to feel addicted, 36 per cent to protect their loved ones and 28.1 per cent to avoid reactions from loved ones.

Smokers’ partners said they didn’t like the smell, with 26.6 per cent saying they disliked the smell of the room, 23 per cent cigarette smoke, 17.6 per cent the smell of tobacco on clothes and hair and just 2.3 per cent worried about their partners’ health.

President and CEO of maRc Thomas Gerakis said one of the major problems in quitting or switching to safer alternatives was the lack of available information.

Of the total asked, 62 per cent said there was not enough information about the benefits of quitting smoking, compared to 58.1 in 2023 and 57.6 in 2022.

The majority also said they were not well-informed about alternative products, such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products, with just 13.2 per cent of those asked saying they were.

However, what was considered to be worrying was that 40.6 per cent of the total asked got their information from friends and 15.7 per cent from social media, with another 20.9 per cent saying the information came from nowhere in particular.

Four in five or 82.8 per cent believed the health ministry should be responsible for disseminating information about alternative products and over half or 56.5 per cent said it should be up to the medical community.

Users of alternative products increased over the past three years. In 2024, 15.4 per cent said they used alternatives exclusively or alongside conventional cigarettes, compared to 13.4 per cent in 2023 and 10.8 per cent in 2022.

Among users, 55.3 per cent said the reason they switched was that they were odourless, 39.8 per cent that it was possibly less harmful, 31.7 per cent that it did not produce ash and 23 per cent because they wanted to lessen the amount they smoked.

Two out of three smokers or 63.9 per cent said they would not consider switching as they were afraid it would not satisfy them, while 34.6 doubted it was less harmful. Furthermore, 25.2 per cent said they did not have enough information and 23.1 that they were not open to new technologies.