The report analyses patterns of nicotine product consumption in Poland and the potential effects of regulatory interventions. The survey (June 2025, over 4,500 respondents aged 18–64) shows that traditional cigarettes remain the dominant product, although their popularity and frequency of use are lower in younger age groups. While most traditional cigarette users do not combine them with other products, consumers of alternative products typically use more than one nicotine product. Perceived harmfulness is low, especially for alternative products: only 38% of daily e-cigarette users consider them very harmful, and among heated tobacco users this figure is just 30%. Demand is price sensitive, with multiproduct users responding more strongly, though they are less likely to quit nicotine altogether. Price increases for e-cigarettes introduced in 2025 may reduce the number of primary e-cigarette users by 659 thousand (62%), of whom 178 thousand would quit nicotine. To substantially reduce the number of nicotine consumers, price increases for traditional cigarettes are also necessary
The authors would like to thank Łukasz Balwicki, Bartosz Jusypenko, Nora Kungl, Kristijan Fidanovski, and Hana Ross for their valuable comments.
This publication was produced as part of a project funded by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw). wiiw is a partner of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.
The content of this publication reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily represent the position of the Institute for Structural Research. The usual disclaimers apply.
