Some 700,000 people in the Netherlands are suffering from chronic illnesses linked to smoking, figures collated by national health institute RIVM on behalf of anti-smoking league Rookvrije Generatie have shown.

It is the first time the number of people who have cancer, lung disease or heart disease caused by smoking has been established.

The figures show that tens of thousands of smokers fall ill at a relatively young age. Some 28,000 people in their forties and 111,000 in their fifties are currently being treated for smoking-related illnesses.

Older people are smoking less, the RIVM found, but that trend is not catching on among the young. According to figures from addiction institute Trimbos, 22% of Dutch youngsters aged 12 to 25 smoked an e-cigarette in 2023 and two-thirds of them also smoked tobacco cigarettes.

Director of lung charity Longfonds and pediatrician Károly Illy said the tobacco industry is “doubly guilty”.

“By making teens addicted to nicotine they have customers for life,” Illy told RTL Nieuws. “We also know that vaping leads to smoking. Some 69% of youngsters who vape also smoke. If we don’t call a halt we will be seeing the same figures decades from now.”

Smoke-free generation

A proposal by D66 leader Rob Jetten to scrap the hike in VAT on sports and raise the price of tobacco and vapes instead would be a good start, Illy said. He also wants better help for smokers to kick the habit.

According to the national health accord Nationaal Preventieakkoord a “smoke-free generation” should be established by 2040, meaning that no child would smoke from that date. The number of adult smokers should also be brought back to 5%.

Over 20,000 people a year currently die from smoking-related illnesses in the Netherlands.