Poland: Overview Icon

Poland: Overview

Polish smokers consume 2,371 sticks per year. 40% of males and 25% of females smoke. 81,500 million sticks are manufactured in Poland each year, the majority of which will be consumed by Polish smokers as only 5 million cigarettes are imported annually.

Poland ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on September 15, 2006. Legislation is in place to prohibit smoking in public places (1995) such as health care establishments, educational facilities, in closed spaces in work places, and on flights and other forms of public transportation. Several cities have extended this ban to public transportation hubs and parks.

Tobacco advertising through radio or television is banned according to legislation established in 1995. Other forms of advertising (e.g. print media) carry health warnings that cover 20% of the upper portion of the ad. Health warnings occupy 40% of the largest side of cigarette packs sold in Poland.

Increasingly, Polish smokers are consuming less expensive or economy cigarettes as tax increases impact their brand flexibility. 72.3% of the price of a cigarette in Poland is tax. Although polish cigarette taxation has been steadily increasing, the country continues to work toward achieving an excise rate of EUR 64 per 1,000 in accordance with its obligation to the European Union.

Sources: WHO, Euromonitor, ACS: Tobacco Atlas (second edition), Zatonski, W. Democracy and Health (2003), FCA

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