Overview

• The DKFZ Tabakatlas, based on Federal Statistical Office cause‑of‑death data, attributes about one in seven deaths to smoking in 2023, with cancers accounting for 42% and nearly one fifth of all cancer diagnoses linked to tobacco.
• Regional and gender gaps are stark: male tobacco‑attributable mortality peaks in Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern at 19% and in Berlin at about 18%, female rates are highest in Bremen at 13.2% and lowest in Saxony at 6.9%.
• Trends diverge by sex over decades, with tobacco‑related deaths falling among men but rising among women.
• More than 28% of adults smoke according to RKI survey data, while about 7% of 12‑ to 17‑year‑olds report smoking and experts warn e‑cigarettes risk creating a new generation of nicotine‑dependent youth despite advertising bans.
• DKFZ, Deutsche Krebshilfe and the German Cancer Society urge regular tobacco tax increases and stricter marketing enforcement, as Health Minister Nina Warken labels smoking Germany’s largest avoidable health risk.