Young people's access to tobacco products
According to the 2022 HBSC study, nearly half of 15-year-olds who had smoked during the previous 30 days — 51.8% of boys and 45.7% of girls — had bought cigarettes themselves from a shop, kiosk, bar, or restaurant, or from a vending machine (Delgrande et al., 2023[1]). Even larger proportions had bought or obtained cigarettes through friends, parents, siblings, or other people they knew. Although fewer school pupils who had smoked during the previous 30 days reported other sources of supply, nearly one quarter said they had obtained cigarettes from strangers (22.2% of girls and 22.5% of boys) and/or had taken them without permission or stolen them (29% of girls and 18.8% of boys). Online purchases were not considered separately in this survey. However, the COVID-19 pandemic may have encouraged young people to use this supply source.
The first data on minors' access to these products since the national ban on selling tobacco and/or nicotine products to minors came into force on 14 October 2024 were collected through the 2025 Health and Lifestyle omnibus survey (Notari et al., 2026[2]). In this survey, around 70% of monthly tobacco and/or nicotine product users aged 15-17 bought their products themselves. Physical points of sale remain the main channels through which minors obtain products directly: kiosks rank first, cited by more than half of young purchasers (57.5%), followed by shops (36.3%), and friends (30.7%). Online purchases are somewhat less common (25.6%). Other channels, such as purchases through messaging services or vending machines, remain marginal. These results should, however, be interpreted with caution because of the small number of observations analysed.
[1] Delgrande Jordan, Marina ; Balsiger, Nora; Schmidhauser, Valentine. (2023). Consommation de substances psychoactives chez les 11 à 15 ans en Suisse - Situation en 2022 et évolution dans le temps - Résultats de l'étude Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) (Rapport de recherche No 149). Lausanne: Addiction Suisse. Download.
[2] Notari, L., Amos, J., & Delgrande Jordan, M. (2026). Produits du tabac et de la nicotine – Résultats de l’Enquête Santé et Lifestyle 2025 et évolutions récentes. Addiction Suisse. Download.
AT Switzerland, April 2026