Four Balkan countries are among the world’s top 20 countries in terms of smoking, according to data published by World Population Review and published by Klix.ba.
Serbia, where an estimated 40.6% of the population smokes, is ranked seventh, Greece ninth and Bulgaria tenth, and Bosnia and Herzegovina close to eleventh. Another country in the region, Croatia, is 18th.
THE list is dominated by Nauru, a small Pacific island nation, where smokers make up 52.1% of the population.
According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills more than eight million people each year, including active and passive smokers (who are victims of second-hand smoke).
Although smoking has been banned in restaurants and public offices across the Balkans, it is still permitted and widespread in most cafes and bars.
(Zoran Radosavljević | EURACTIV.com)
