Europeans are the world’s biggest smokers and drinkers, according to a World Health Organization report that says higher prices on cigarettes and alcohol in the region may help curb the death and disease they cause.
On average, 27 percent of people over 15 smoke across the 53 nations that make up the WHO’s European region, higher than in any other part of the world, the Geneva-based agency said today in its triennial health report on the continent, home to 900 million people. Europeans also consume an average of 10.6 liters of alcohol a year, more than in any other region, according to the report.
