[Intl-tobacco] Finns Reduce Tobacco Consumption More Than Other Nordic Nations (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Finns Reduce Tobacco Consumption More Than Other Nordic Nations
Smoking goes down 40% from 1970 level
Source: Helsingin Sanomat, Monday, 9/11/00

Finland cut back on its consumption of tobacco at the end of the 1900s
more than the other Nordic countries.
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   Last year, tobacco consumption was 40% lower in Finland than in 1970.
In 1998 25.1% of Finns were daily smokers, and the figure
   had gone down to 23.3% in 1999.
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   In Sweden, smoking has decreased by 49% since 1970. However, the use of
snuff has nearly doubled in the same amount of time.
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   The average Swede over the age of 15 smokes more than half a kilo of
tobacco and uses nearly half a kilo of snuff each year,
   whereas the average Finn smokes about a kilo annually. In 1990, tobacco
consumption was about 1.4 kilos a year.
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   The figures are based on a study commissioned by Sweden=92s tobacco
industry and conducted by the privat statistical office
   Veca. The data concerning Finland are from Statistics Finland and the
National Public Health Institute.

    Brian Wicklin, the consultant who drafted the report, studied tobacco
consumption already when he worked for Sweden=92s state statistical office.
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   The most ardent smokers in the Nordic region are the Danes and
Norwegians. A full 40% of Danes and 32% of Norwegians over
   15 smoke daily.
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   Smoking has gone down significantly in these countries as well: in 1980
half of all Danes and more than a third of Norwegians
   smoked.

    Smoking in Denmark is as prevalent as in France, and the Norwegians
smoke as much as the Spanish. Heading the European statistics is Bosnia,
where 53% of the
   people smoke daily.
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   Sweden was the first to reach the goal of the World Health
Organisation, to reduce smoking to one fifth of the adult population.
   In Sweden, 14.9% are daily smokers; in Finland, the figure is 23.3%.
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   There was a reduction in smoking among all population groups, except
Finnish young women: smoking among girls aged 14-18 increased
   by four percent since 1981.
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   At the end of the 1990s, tobacco cost considerably more than in 1970.=20
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   The prices followed the consumer price index until the mid-1990s, when
they rose sharply. In Norway the price increased tenfold
   in 30 years. In Finland, the price went up sevenfold.
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   Tobacco prices in Norway are the highest in the Nordic region. In
Finland, the price of a package of 20 cigarettes was FIM
   22 in December last year, while in Norway, it was the equivalent of
about FIM 40. In Sweden and Denmark, tobacco cost slightly
   more than in Finland.

    Finland and Sweden have lower tobacco taxes than Norway and Denmark,
and Finland has the lowest VAT on tobacco.
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   The yield of the tobacco tax has remained nearly unchanged in Finland
for the past 30 years, while it has grown in the other
   Nordic countries.
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   Finnish customs confiscates more cigarettes than the customs
authorities of the other Nordic countries.

   Of the 62 million cigarettes seized in Finland last year, 44 million
were counterfeits of brand name products en route to
   Russia. If they are excluded, Finnish confiscations are at about the
same level as in other Nordic countries.
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   According to Markus Kallio of the Finnish customs service, illegal
imports of cigarettes from Russia and Estonia have reached such
proportions that
   they affect consumption and overall sales, at least locally.

    Household disposable income during the period under study increased
the most in Finland. About one percent of income was spent on tobacco, and
an equivalent
   amount was spent on gambling.