One of my least favorite things about Europe is the experience of sitting on a cafe terrace and having someone smoking beside you while you're trying to enjoy a gelatinous pig foot from Au Pied de Cochon. (I kid; gelatinous pig foot isn't my favorite.)
So here's some news: France has just announced that, starting July 1, smoking will be banned from nearly all public spaces, including parks, beaches, public gardens, and bus stops. That said, the ban does not yet include cafe terraces. So I can still expect my gelatinous pig foot experiences to be horribly ruined.
Still, this is a giant step in the right direction, especially for a country with one of the highest smoking rates among OECD countries. As of 2023, the national average for daily smokers was estimated at 23% for adults aged 18 to 75. The region with the highest percentage of smokers was the southeast (~29.5%) and the region with the lowest percentage of smokers was Greater Paris (~21.9%).
In addition to varying by region, smoking is also strongly correlated with socioeconomic status. INSEE, France's national statistics agency, estimated the following daily smoking rates as of 2022:
42.3% of unemployed adults
33.6% of people in the lowest income tier
30.8% of people without a degree (baccalauréat level)
16.8% of people with higher education (above baccalauréat level)
But even among high-income groups, the rates are significantly higher than what you'd find throughout the rest of Western Europe, and in places like Canada and the US. We're in the 10-11% range. All of this is why the French health ministry is now aiming to create a generation "free of tobacco" by 2032.
The majority of French people also seem to support this new public space ban; which maybe isn't surprising, given that the majority don't smoke.
Cover photo by Marie-Sophie Tékian on Unsplash