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Third of Russians smoke cigarettes, 2% use other nicotine delivery systems — poll

In Moscow, only 27% of smokers prefer solely conventional cigarettes with the share of those using only electronic nicotine products exceeding the country’s average

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. A third of Russians smoke conventional cigarettes and two more percent use electronic nicotine delivery systems and tobacco heating devices, as follows from a study conducted by the Kantar agency in the second and thirds quarters of 2019.

Notably, all of the polled users of e-cigarettes said they had previously smoked conventional cigarettes. Most of them, 76%, said they had switched to e-cigarettes to try something less harmful to their health. Half of the polled (50%) said they had opted for electronic nicotine products because of the unpleasant smell left behind by cigarette smoke. Twenty-two percent said they did not like the taste of conventional cigarettes.

According to Kantar’s poll, the overwhelming majority of e-cigarette users (94%) are older than 28. More than a half of them (59%) are males, eighty-two percent have university degrees and eight-eight percent have regular jobs and upper-middle incomes (more than 70,000 rubles a month, or over 1,000 US dollars).

In Moscow, only 27% of smokers prefer solely conventional cigarettes, less than in the rest of Russia. Correspondingly, the share of those using only electronic nicotine products in Moscow is above the country’s average: 2.5% of the adult population, or more than 220,000 people.

Thirty-eight percent of e-cigarette users said they bought them at tobacco retail outlets, twenty-seven percent — at vape shops, twenty-three percent — at supermarkets and convenience stores, and eleven percent said they preferred online shopping.