The population of Greece has the largest percentage of smokers in the EU, according to survey results released as the country’s anti-smoking measures prove to be less effective than those adopted in other member States.

According to a Eurobarometer report on tobacco presented by EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou to the European Parliament, 42 per cent of Greeks are smokers versus an average of 32 per cent in the EU.

Cypriots come next with some 39 per cent regularly lighting up, while Malta and Slovakia claim the fewest smokers with 25 per cent of their population using tobacco products.

Some 650,000 people die each year in EU countries due to smoking-related illnesses, while a further 80,000 adults are killed by second-hand tobacco smoke.

According to the study, the majority of Europeans are in favour of smoke-free policies.

Around half of European homes are smoke-free on average, the study found.

This varies from 83 per cent in Finland and 69 per cent in Sweden, to 17 per cent in Croatia and 26 per cent in Greece.

More European men (37 per cent) than women (27 per cent) consider themselves smokers, while more men claim to have given up the habit, 25 per cent claiming to be ex-smokers against 18 per cent of woman respondents who considered themselves former smokers.

The Commission said that less than two per cent of smokers have asked for help from health professionals in their last attempt to quit. However, in the UK, this figure reaches 41 per cent. Around a third of Europeans say they used pharmaceutical and other treatments last time they tried to give up smoking.