Second-hand Smoke

  • 15.8% of the population aged 15 and over is exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke for at least one hour per week; 6.5% of the population is exposed for an average of one hour per day.
  • In Switzerland, the people with a disproportionally high exposure to second-hand smoke are young people, men, people with only compulsory education or lower, foreign nationals, and people living in the Italian- and French-speaking regions of Switzerland.
  • The first national studies comparing exposure to tobacco smoke and exposure to ENDS aerosols show that exposure to tobacco smoke is still slightly more common than exposure to e-cigarette aerosols.
  • Young people, however, are particularly likely to be exposed to ENDS aerosols: around one quarter of 15–17-year-olds and 18–24-year-olds report frequent or very frequent exposure to e-cigarette aerosols.

Second-hand smoke, resulting both from direct exposure to smoke emitted by a burning tobacco product and from smoke exhaled by smokers, is also a major public health issue. This smoke, sometimes referred to as “second-hand” smoke, contains several thousand chemicals, hundreds of which are toxic and at least 70 of which are carcinogenic[1] (for more detail on the effects and consequences of second-hand smoke, see our webpage on second-hand smoke).

Around one in ten people are exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke for one hour per day

Detailed figures on the duration of exposure to second-hand smoke are available through the Addiction and NCD monitoring system (OBSAN, 2026[2]). They show that in 2022, while nearly three quarters — 73.7% — of the population aged 15 and over said they were never exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke, more than one fifth of the population — 15.8% — was exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke for at least one hour per week. The share of the population exposed for an average of more than one hour per day reached 6.5%. This is slightly lower than the level recorded in the Swiss Health Surveys of 2017 (9.2%) and 2012 (9.9%), and markedly lower than the 20.3% recorded in 2007, three years before legal measures to protect against second-hand smoke came into force nationally.

Certain population subgroups are clearly more exposed

The 2022 Swiss Health Survey also shows substantial differences in exposure to other people’s tobacco smoke by age: people in the youngest age groups are much more likely to report average exposure of one hour or more per day (17.3% of 15–19-year-olds, 13.4% of 20–24-year-olds and 10.2% of 25–34-year-olds). Similarly, people with lower levels of education (compulsory schooling and upper secondary level), people living in Italian-speaking and French-speaking parts of Switzerland, Swiss nationality and unemployed people are considerably more exposed to second-hand smoke.

Exposure among non-smokers and other related estimates

In detailed analyses published on the website of the Swiss Addiction and Non-communicable Diseases Monitoring System [3], the 2022 Swiss Health Survey also reports that the share of non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke for at least one hour per day was 4.1% in 2022 (OBSAN, 2026[2]). This share was 6% in both 2017 and 2012, compared with 16% in 2007. Although the Swiss Health Survey data do not make it possible to directly infer exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy, or to define precisely the extent to which children and adolescents are exposed to second-hand smoke, it was estimated on the basis of the 2017 survey that around one in eight pregnant women smokes during pregnancy and that at least 27% of children and young people under the age of 18 live with a parent who smokes (FSO, 2020[4]).

Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke and e-cigarette aerosols

The detailed analyses of the 2025 Health and Lifestyle Survey are the first to provide national-level measures of exposure to both second-hand smoke and ENDS aerosols (Notari et al., 2026[5]). According to these data, nearly one in two people — 44.3% — was exposed to tobacco smoke at least occasionally, and around one in seven — 15.1% — reported frequent exposure. Exposure to e-cigarette aerosols affected more than one third — 34.1% — of the population at least occasionally, while more than one in ten people — 11.1% — said they were often or very often exposed to it. Young people are by far the most affected: one quarter of 15–17-year-olds (25.0%) and more than one third of 18–24-year-olds (33.5%) report frequent or very frequent exposure to tobacco smoke. Exposure to e-cigarette aerosols is similar across these age groups, with approximately one quarter in each reporting frequent or very frequent exposure. (24.9% among 15–17-year-olds and 23.5% among 18–24-year-olds). Among all respondents reporting exposure to second-hand smoke or ENDS aerosols, outdoor public spaces (bus stops, railway platforms, etc.) were the most frequently cited places of exposure (62.8%), followed by restaurant and café terraces (56.5%). Social settings — exposure at concerts (34.6%) or at friends’ homes (28.9%) and breaks at work (24.7%) — were the other most frequently mentioned contexts of exposure. Exposure at home (10.0%) or at the workplace itself (9.4%) was more limited.

[1] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2006). The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke - A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. Download.

[2] https://ind.obsan.admin.ch/fr/indicator/monam/tabagisme-passif-age-15 ; Accessed 30.04.2026.

[3] https://ind.obsan.admin.ch/fr/monam; Accessed 30.04.2026.

[4] OFS (2020) : Actualité OFS - Enquête suisse sur la santé 2017 – Consommation de tabac en suisse. OFS. Neuchâtel. Download.

[5] 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

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