Germany performs poorly in tobacco control ranking

The Tobacco Control Scale (TCS), which assesses policies to control the sale of tobacco in 37 European countries, has concluded that Germany needs to do more to prioritise policies which discourage smoking.

2025 assessment of tobacco control policies in Europe

The Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) compares smoking and tobacco policies across 37 European countries based on six policy areas. 

These include: bans/restrictions on smoking in public and at work; consumer information, such as public information campaigns, media coverage, and publicising research; bans on advertising and promotion of tobacco products, logos and brands; health warning labels on tobacco products and treatment available to help smokers stop.

In the 2025 assessment, which is based on a 2025 survey and refers to laws in force as of January 1, 2026, Ireland claimed top spot as the country doing the most to prevent tobacco use, followed by the UK and the Netherlands. Bosnia and Herzegovina was considered to have the weakest policy to discourage tobacco use, alongside Switzerland, Serbia and Romania.

Tobacco sales control in Germany is “low”

Germany ranked 25th, largely due to the low price of tobacco - a pack of 20 cigarettes costs around 8 euros - and the lack of a ban on tobacco advertising in public spaces.

“There has been some limited progress in Germany,” the report explained. “Tobacco advertising, including for heated tobacco products, is now banned on billboards, but remains highly visible at points of sale. Overall, Germany’s Tobacco Control Scale score remains low.”

Compared to its European neighbours, Germany has relatively relaxed smoking laws. Tobacco or cigarettes are not only affordable, but it is often possible to smoke in bars, on restaurant terraces and in designated areas in airports or on train station platforms.

While there is an overall decline in the number of smokers in Germany, according to 2025 figures from the Kaufmännische Krankenkasse (KKH), the number of heavy smokers has increased significantly over the past 10 years or so. 

Between 2013 and 2023, the number of people addicted to tobacco rose by 47,5 percent, according to the KKH. The health insurance provider made its assessment based on data from its nearly 1,66 million customers. 

The KKH report studied how many customers were addicted to tobacco in 2013 compared to 2023 and how many customers suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive lung disease which causes chronic breathing problems.

European countries ranked for tobacco policies

In all, these were the best countries in Europe for tobacco control (out of a total score of 100):

1. Ireland (80)
2. the UK (78)
3. The Netherlands (76)
4. France (73)
5. Norway (66)
6. Finland (65)
7. Belgium (64)
8. Hungary (62)
9. Slovenia (62)
10. Spain (54)

The countries that ranked the lowest were:

• 30. Cyprus (42)
• 31. Czechia (40) 
• = 32. Bulgaria (37) 
• = 32. Bulgaria (37) 
• = 34. Serbia (36) 
• = 34. Romania (36)
• 36. Switzerland (33)
• 37. Bosnia and Herzegovina (20)

Read the full report on the TCS website.