Every third adult man and every fifth woman smokes in Poland, according to findings from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey Poland (GATS) published by the Ministry of Health and conducted under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
Altogether, 27 percent of the population over 18 years of age (8.7 million people) smoke on a daily basis, according to daily Puls Biznesu which quotes the results. When occasional smokers are included the figure is bigger by a million. Smokers spend an average of zł.208.5 a month on factory-produced cigarettes, generating zł.20 billion in tax revenues for the Treasury.
The authors of the report also show, however, that the medical treatment of chronic lung diseases, asthma, heart conditions and lung cancer which result from smoking may cost Poland up to zł.200 billion in the next 20 years, while the costs of medical care provided to passive smokers may reach zł.22 billion in the same period.
On top of that, the economy loses billions of złoty owing to workers' premature deaths resulting from smoking.
Source from:Wbj.pl