Here are the best and worst European countries for smoke-free homes

Seven out of ten homes in Europe are smoke-free but there are wide differences among countries.

A new survey of more than 11,700 people in 12 European countries reveals the best and the worst countries when it comes to smoking at home. The survey findings were published in ERJ Open Research, the journal of the European Respiratory Society.

The survey also found that nearly one home out of five wasn’t completely smoke-free but had some rules in place.

Greece came out at the bottom of the 12 countries with only 44 per cent of the homes being smoke-free, followed by Romania, Bulgaria, and Spain.

England was on top of the list with almost 85 per cent of homes being smoke-free followed by Ireland, Latvia, and Italy.

“With this research, we wanted to examine the home smoking rules across the general population in Europe. Although some national surveys have taken place, there has been no multi-country survey in Europe since 2010,” Olena Tigova, the study’s author from the Tobacco Control Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Spain, said in a statement. 

“Countries in Northern Europe have more smoke-free homes, while Eastern Europe and less affluent countries have more homes with partial smoking rules, allowing smoking in specific areas or on certain occasions,” she added.

Smoke-free homes were common among people aged 65 and over, women, those with higher education, and those living with children.

Since 2004, many European countries have implemented smoke-free regulations for public spaces. 

However, private areas, especially homes, continue to be frequent locations for smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke.

The study did have some limitations including that it was based on self-reported data and face-to-face interviews so the