Level of consumption

  • In 2022, people who smoked consumed an average of nine cigarettes per day.
  • Combining daily and occasional smokers, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day varies according to several demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

At the individual level, another essential aspect of smoking behaviour and its consequences is the intensity of tobacco use. This can be understood as a combination of two distinct dimensions: duration (e.g. the number of years of use) and quantity (e.g. the number of cigarettes smoked). The level of consumption is directly associated with the risk of developing smoking-related health problems[1] and is therefore another key indicator in the epidemiological description of smoking (see also our Health risks page).

Average number of cigarettes smoked and proportion of heavy smokers

Swiss Health Survey data on the number of cigarettes smoked show that, in 2022, people who smoked consumed an average of 8.7 cigarettes per day, combining daily and occasional smokers (Obsan, 2026[2]). Detailed analyses also show that average daily consumption is not distributed evenly across the population. There are significant differences between men (9.7 cigarettes per day) and women (7.4), and between age groups. Average daily consumption exceeded 10 cigarettes in every age group over 45, whereas averages were lower, and in some cases considerably lower, among those under 45, ranging from 4.6 cigarettes per day among 15 to 19-year-olds to 8.4 among 35 to 44-year-olds. Significant differences were also observed according to educational attainment, with higher averages among people who smoked and had the lowest levels of education; nationality, with higher averages among foreign than Swiss nationals; and canton.

Detailed results on cigarette consumption are also available from the basic analyses of the 2022 SHS. These show the proportion of the entire population, irrespective of smoking status, who consumed a given average number of cigarettes per day (FSO, 2024[3]). In total, 4.2% of the population aged 15 and over smoked an average of 20 cigarettes or more — one pack — per day: 6.1% of men and 2.3% of women. Analysis by age group shows that this proportion rises substantially with age up to 55 among men: for example, the prevalence of heavy smoking is close to 10% among men aged 45-54 and up to age 65 among women.

The number of cigarettes smoked per day is one of the indicators in the FOPH's Addiction and NCD Monitoring System (MonAM), and detailed findings based on earlier SHS waves are also available. In the 2017 SHS, combining occasional and daily smokers, women smoked an average of 8.5 cigarettes per day and men 10.4, giving an overall average of 9.5 cigarettes per day (Obsan, 2026[2]). These averages have fallen substantially and steadily since the first survey wave in 1992, when they were 13 among women and 16.9 among men, or 15.3 across both groups.

[1] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2014). The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: 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/tabac-nombre-de-cigarettes-fumees-par-jour-age-15; consulted on 30.04.2026.

[3] OFS (2024), Actualité OFS. Enquête suisse sur la santé - La consommation de tabac de 1992 à 2022. OFS. Neuchâtel. Download.

AT Switzerland, April 2026

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