Unexpected sharp increase in smoking in Poland. Did the Polish tobacco control strategy collapse?

Introduction
The enforcement of comprehensive tobacco control policies in Poland in the mid-1990s contributed to a substantial decrease in tobacco smoking and was followed by a decline in lung cancer mortality. At that time Poland’s Tobacco Control Law was evaluated by the WHO as an example for other countries, and the annual reductions in smoking prevalence and lung cancer mortality rates were among the highest in the world. However, in 2016, Poland unexpectedly experienced a health policy crisis and a weakening of public health policy towards cigarettes. This paper aims is to evaluate smoking prevalence in Poland in 2025.

Material and methods
A nationwide survey (50% CATI, 50% CAWI) of tobacco smoking and the use of other tobacco and nicotine products was conducted by the European Observatory of Health Inequali­ties at the University of Kalisz, Poland, from 22 to 27 April 2025. The study methodology was similar to the approach used by our team in the years 1982-2016. A nationally representative cross-sectional sample of 1,500 respondents aged 15 and over provided data regarding the prevalence of daily, occasional, former, and never smoking by gender. Statistical analysis was based on the recent version of the SPSS Statistical Package, weighted data and results of c2 tests (p < 0.05).

Results
Between 2019 and 2025, the prevalence of daily smoking in Poland sharply increased – in men from 26.9% to 31.5%, in women from 18.1% to 21.2%. Current smoking rates reached 36.9% in men and 25.7% in women, much higher than the overall 2023 European Union average of 24%.

Conclusions
In the past decade, smoking prevalence has increased sharply in Poland and is now at a high level when compared with EU countries. This public health calamity was caused by the shutdown of the country’s National Tobacco Control Strategy and Action Plan. Poland now requires the urgent implementation of a new comprehensive tobacco control strategy.