High level of tobacco smoking in Bulgaria

About 30 percent of Bulgarians, comprising more than 2.1 million people, are daily tobacco smokers, according to a Focus English News story quoting the World Health Organization report Global Tobacco Epidemic, which was released on Saturday.

There is a smoking gender bias, with 40 percent of men and 19 percent of women being daily smokers.

And there is an age bias. Almost half of people aged 25–65 are smokers, while smokers make up 28 percent of the 15–24 age group but only 12 percent of the 65-plus age group.

Meanwhile, 50 percent of men and 70 percent of women are said to be “firm nonsmokers,” and 10 percent of men and 9 percent of women are described as “nonregular smokers.”