BACKGROUND-AIM:
Enforcement of the comprehensive tobacco control policies in Poland in mid-1990s contributed to substantial decrease in tobacco smoking and was followed by decline in lung cancer mortality. At that time the 1995 Poland Tobacco Control Law was evaluated by WHO as an example for other countries and the annual decrease ratio in cigarette consumption and smoking prevalence and lung cancer mortality rates belonged to one of the highest in the world. This paper aims to evaluate if decline in smoking prevalence the past decade was continued.

METHODS:
A nation-wide questionnaire survey on tobacco smoking and the use of other tobacco and nicotine products was conducted by the European Observatory of health inequalities at the University of Kalisz, Poland between 22 to 27 April 2025 in collaboration with the Health Promotion Foundation in Nadarzyn, Poland. The study was supported by unrestricted grant of the Watch Health Care Foundation in Warsaw, Poland. The study design, including survey concept, methods, tools and definitions of smoking behaviors, was based on the scientifically proven methodology used by our team in the years 1982-2016. A nationally representative cross-sectional quota sample of 1,500 respondents was selected from population of Poland at age of 15 and over. The study was realized with the use of mix-mode questionnaire interview technique: Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) and Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), each one administered with 50% of selected respondents. Current cross-sectional analysis refers to the prevalence of basic smoking behaviors by gender: daily, occasional, former and never smoking. Statistical analysis was performed using the recent version of the SPSS Statistical Package and based on weighted data and results of chi-square tests (p<0.05).

RESULTS:
In 2025, the prevalence of daily smoking was 26.1% in the whole adult population - 31.5% in adult men and 21.2% in adult women. Current smoking rates reached 36.9% in men and 25.7% in women. Between 2019 and 2025, the prevalence of daily smoking sharply increased - in men from 26.9% to 31.5%, in women from 18.1% to 21.2%. By now, the prevalence of current smoking in Poland is much higher (31%) than the 2023 average current smoking prevalence in the European Union (24%), both in male and female population.

CONCLUSIONS:
In the past decade, the sharp increase in smoking prevalence is observed in Poland. Currently, smoking prevalence rates are at high level when compared with other EU countries. It was caused by the shutdown of the Poland National Tobacco Control Strategy and Action Plan, by inadequate changes in Polish tobacco control legislation and by increased economic affordability of tobacco products in Poland. It weakens public health in Poland and requires urgent enforcement of new comprehensive tobacco control strategy in Poland.