Key Points

• 2018 Smoke-Free Month Report: All indicators have been rising since 2016:

  • The number of people registered for Tobacco-Free Month was 23,014, representing 9.6% of registrants in mainland France

  • The number of calls handled by the 3989 helpline accounted for 10.9% of calls from mainland France, even though Occitanie accounts for 9.8% of daily smokers. Women accounted for 63% of calls, and the most represented age group was 55–64 years old (30%).

  • The 6,366 activations of the mobile app accounted for 9.5% of activations across all of France. Women accounted for 63% of users, and the main age group was 25–44-year-olds.

  • The number of smoking cessation kits ordered increased by 9.6%.

• Consumption indicators: average consumption of manufactured cigarettes was 8.4 cigarettes per day and 4.3 for hand-rolled cigarettes, similar to mainland France. The prevalence of hookah use was 1.3% compared to 2.3% in mainland France.

• Cross-border cigarette purchases: nearly 20% of smokers in Occitanie buy their cigarettes or rolling tobacco in neighboring countries, making it the third-largest region in France for cross-border purchases after the Grand Est and Hauts-de-France regions (where approximately 50% of smokers make their purchases in neighboring countries)

• Smoking-related mortality: the total number of deaths attributable to smoking was estimated at 7,325, or 12.8% of all deaths that occurred that same year, higher among men (18.5%) than among women (7.1%) and close to national figures. The proportion of premature deaths was 26%. The most common causes of deaths attributable to smoking are cancers (61.1% of annual deaths attributable to tobacco), followed by cardiovascular diseases (22.6% of annual deaths).