Signal Smoking share projected to fall from 22% (2020) to 14% (2040)

Summary

The public health institute RIVM expects the share of smokers in the Netherlands to fall from 22 per cent in 2020 to 14 per cent in 2040, a decline the report characterises as limited. The outlook for alcohol consumption is uncertain. According to the report, smoking and drinking, together with overweight, are the factors that most reduce healthy life years. The loss of healthy years, unwanted health care costs and premature deaths caused by tobacco and alcohol will therefore not disappear. The report attributes the persistent gap to the balance of power between politics and the alcohol, tobacco and food industries, which leaves legislation structurally too weak to curb addiction and unhealthy consumption.