In Germany, smoking is widespread and is subject to very few and lax regulations compared to other countries in Europe. Tobacco taxes in Germany are among the lowest in Europe. Germany ranks last on the Tobacco Control Scale and has sometimes been referred to as the "smoker's paradise" of Europe. According to German addiction researcher , Germany has "[...] more cigarette vending machines than any other country in the world."
Under federal law, the manufacture, import, distribution, and advertisement of tobacco is regulated whilst the 16 federal states of Germany each have their own legislation regarding smoking in public places, which range from relatively weak regulations to full smoking bans in all licensed premises, childcare facilities, schools and governmental institutions.
As of July 2016, nearly 40% of the German population live in a state which bans smoking in all restaurants, pubs, cafés and nightclubs (Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland). The other 13 states permit smoking in designated rooms or in bars with a floor area of less than 75 square meters.
According to a 2013 micro-census survey, 24.5% of the German population aged fifteen years and over are smokers (29% of men, 20% of women). Among the 18–25 age group, 35.2% are smokers.
Prevalence
In 2005, 27% of the population admitted to being current smokers. 23% were daily smokers (28% of men and 19% of women,) while 4% smoked occasionally. The highest ratio of daily smokers was in the 20-24 age group: 38% of men and 30% of women. According to a 2010 study by University of Bielefeld, 9.9% of all 15-year-old males and 10.8% of 15-year-old females smoked daily, which showed a strong decline during the previous decade.
As in other industrial countries the prevalence of smoking in Germany is lower among people with higher education levels.
A 2006 a comparative study found that 25.1% of male and 20.6% of female medical students in Göttingen smoked, while in London the percentages were only 10.9% and 9.1%.
Germany had the largest number of cigarette vending machines per capita in the world: 1 per 102.5 people.
Cigarette smoking among adults, 2013
According to a 2013 microcensus, about one in four (24.5%) people aged 15 years and over was a smoker, 20.9% regularly, and only 3.6 occasionally. The rate of ex-smokers was 19.3%. The average age at which smokers begin is 17.8 years of age (in the age group of 15- to 20-year-olds the average age is 15.4 years)
Annual cigarette consumption per capita
In 2010, an average of 229 million cigarettes were smoked every day, corresponding to 1,021 cigarettes per capita.
Cigarette consumption per day
Amount of smoked cigarettes per day by age per Sozio-oekonomische Panel (SOEP) .
Tobacco consumption from 1991 until 2013
Average amount of cigarettes smoked daily, by year.
Political measures against smoking
Misleading labels
Since 2003 it is illegal to label a tobacco product as "light", "mild", "low-tar" or any other misleading form of advertisement which could cause the impression that the product causes less damage than other tobacco products.
Advertising
All radio and television advertisement for tobacco products was banned in 1975. This regulation was extended by the "Rundfunkstaatsvertrag" on 1 August 1999, banning any kind of sponsoring of television and radio shows. In 2002, the "Protection of Young Persons Act" banned the advertising of tobacco products in cinemas before 6 p.m. On 1 January 2007, the European Tobacco advertisement directive came into effect, banning the advertising of tobacco products on the internet, in newspapers and magazines. The regulation also banned sponsorship of any event which is broadcast internationally.
Germany was the last EU member state to still legally permit billboard and cinema advertising for tobacco products, however this was changed by a new government regulation. Outdoor advertising is restricted in stages: From January 1, 2022, for tobacco products, from January 1, 2023, for tobacco heaters and from January 1, 2024, for e-cigarettes. Cinema advertising was banned in 2021.
Warning labels
In accordance with EU Tobacco Products Directive II, all sold cigarettes, rolling tobacco and hookah tobacco manufacturers have to cover 65% of the packaging with combined pictorial and textual warning labels on both sides, in addition to warning labels on the smaller sides since May 2017.