Life style; personal characteristics

Table explanation

Description topics

Smoking behaviour, 12 years or older

Questions on smoking behaviour are asked to persons aged 12 years or older.

Smoking status

Smokers

The percentage of persons in the population aged 12 years or older who answered ‘Yes’ to the question: ‘Do you ever smoke?’

From 2014 to 2017, the introductory text for this question was: ‘Now some questions about smoking.’ From 2018 to 2019 this text was changed in: ‘Now some questions about smoking. We mean smoking of all kinds of tobacco products here, but not the use of an electronic cigarette.’

Smokers

The percentage of persons in the population aged 12 years or older who answered ‘Yes’ to the question: ‘Do you smoke?’.

From 2014 to 2017, the introductory text for this question was: ‘Now some questions about smoking.’ From 2018 to 2019 this text was changed in: ‘Now some questions about smoking. We mean smoking of all kinds of tobacco products here, but not the use of an electronic cigarette.’ From 2020 this introduction text was replaced by ‘Now some questions about smoking. We mean smoking of all kinds of tobacco products here, but not the use of an electronic cigarette or a device in which tobacco is heated (heat stick, heat-not-burn), such as the IQOS’.

Daily smokers in the population

The percentage of persons in the population aged 12 years or older who answered Yes’ to the question ‘Do you smoke every day?

Passive smoking among non-smokers

Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke from nearby smokers while being indoors. The table shows the distribution of answers to the question among people who do not smoke themselves: ‘How often do you (or: does your child) get exposed indoor to tobacco smoke from other people?’.

From 2019 onwards, the answer options were replaced by ‘Never or almost never’, ‘Less than once a week’, ‘Once a week but not every week’, ‘Daily, less than 1 hour a day’ and ‘Daily, one hour or more a day’. These data are not comparable to the data of 2015-2018.

(Almost) never

Percentage of people with answer category ‘never of almost never’ to the question: ‘How often do you (or: does your child) get exposed indoor to tobacco smoke from other people?’.

Alcohol consumption, 12 years or older

The questions on consuming alcohol are asked to all persons aged 12 years or older.

Guideline alcohol use, 12 plus

The percentage of persons in the population aged 12 years or older that meet the guideline on alcohol use. Since 2014, the guideline for persons aged 12 to 18 years is: do not drink until you are 18 years old. Since 2015, the guideline for adults is: do not drink or at most 1 glass per day. This guideline originates from the Guidelines for Good Nutrition (in Dutch: Richtlijnen Goede Voeding) of the Dutch Health Council.

Drugs use, 12 years or older

The questions about drug use are asked to all persons aged 12 or older. The following types of drugs are asked whether they have ever been used and, if so, when was the last time:
• Cannabis (hash, weed, marijuana)
• Amphetamine (such as pep and speed)
• Ecstasy (ecstasy, MDMA)
• LSD
• Magic mushrooms (hallucinogenic mushrooms)
• Cocaine (also crack, boiled coke, freebase)
• Heroine (horse, smack or brown)
• GHB
• Methadone
• From 2018: 4-Fluoroamphetamine, also called 4-FA, 4-FMP or Flux
• Other drugs
From 2023, the questions about methadone and 4-FA have been removed and replaced by questions about ketamine and 3MMC. People are also asked about the use of laughing gas. Figures for this are included in this table from reporting year 2023.
The answer categories for each type of drug are:
• Yes, in the last 30 days
• Yes, in the last 12 months, but not in the last 30 days
• Yes, more than 12 months ago
• No, never used

Use of cannabis

Based on the question about the use of cannabis (hashish, weed, marijuana)

Last year