One in four smokers in Croatia smokes more than before as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and last year's devastating earthquakes, a survey conducted by Ja Trgovac magazine and the Hendal market research agency shows.

The survey of tobacco consumption habits in Croatia was carried out in January on a nationally representative sample of citizens aged 18 and over.

A quarter of smokers interviewed, namely 26 percent, said they smoked more, while 18.5 percent said they smoked less. On the other hand, 56 percent said that the coronavirus outbreak did not affect their smoking habits.

Most of smokers (41.5 percent) spend up to 200 kuna (€26.5) a month on tobacco products and 32.8 percent up to 500 kuna (€66.5). 22 percent spend up to 1,000 kuna (€133) and 3.7 percent more than 1,000 kuna.

33.9 percent of respondents said they used tobacco products (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, new generation products such as IQOS and glo, cigars or rolling tobacco), while 66.1 percent said they did not use tobacco products.

The survey revealed that cigarettes were the most popular tobacco product, used by 76 percent of consumers, ahead of rolling tobacco (22.9 percent), new generation products (13.2 percent), e-cigarettes (12.2 percent), cigars (1.4 percent) and chewing tobacco (0.4 percent). 1.4 percent of tobacco product consumers said they used something else.

70.4 percent of smokers buy tobacco products at newsagents’, 46.1 percent do so at petrol stations, 42.5 percent at supermarkets, 36.4 percent in local shops and 16 percent in specialized tobacco shops. On the other hand, 9.1 percent buy tobacco products on the black market.