Macedonia continues to report high smoking rates, with 22.5% of people over the age of 16 consuming tobacco daily

Macedonia continues to rank among the countries where the use of tobacco and similar products remains high. The latest EUROSTAT data show that in 2022, 22.5 percent of citizens over the age of 16 consumed tobacco or similar products every day. The figure is significantly above the European Union average, which stood at 16.5 percent in 2025.

According to EUROSTAT, daily tobacco consumption in the EU has declined, falling from 17.5% to 16.5%. By contrast, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria have recorded considerable increases. Macedonia remains part of this Balkan reality, where smoking rates continue to be high. The latest available data for the country show that in 2022, 22.5% of people aged 16 and over used tobacco and similar products every day.

Meanwhile, the latest results from the country come from GYTS 2024, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, published in February 2026. According to the survey, 13.6% of students aged 13–15 use a tobacco product, marking the highest level recorded so far in this series of surveys.

Tobacco use is linked to more than one-third of lung cancer cases and a considerable number of cardiovascular diseases. Pulmonologist Zekirija Shahini has expressed concern about the scale of the phenomenon, emphasizing that tobacco is the main cause of lung cancer.

“The alarm must be raised and, why not, people should even be frightened, because we are dealing with a real risk. It must be made clear that tobacco is the cause of lung cancer. Even if we cannot stop it 100%, we must prevent it or find an alternative that can avoid the onset of fatal diseases. What concerns me most is the young age of the patients. We are not talking about people aged 70 or 80, but about a large number of patients aged 50–60, which is considered a very young age, middle age. We are seeing an increase in deaths among younger patients,” pulmonologist Zekirija Shahini said.

The draft law on protection from tobacco is currently before the parliamentary Health Committee. The initiative aims to ban tobacco consumption in public spaces and workplaces, while also clearly defining rules for the terraces of food-service establishments.

For the first time, the document also includes electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other new products containing nicotine. It also provides for stricter measures on the advertising and promotion of tobacco and related products, particularly in digital spaces and on social networks, with the aim of limiting their impact on young people./TV21/