Tobacco, alcohol and other drugs

The share of smokers is measured by two questions: "Do you sometimes smoke?" and "Do you smoke daily or occasionally?".

The share of snus/snuff users is measured by one question: "Do you use snuff daily, occasionally, or never?"

The share which drinks alcohol once a week is measured by two questions: "Have you been drinking alcohol for the past 12 months?" and "During the last 12 months, you will say that you have been drinking alcohol mostly daily, weekly, monthly or more rarely? In addition, those who report drinking at least 3 times a month or more are included in the weekly category.

The share that have drunk six or more units on one occasion weekly is measured by the question: "In the past 12 months, how often have you drunk six or more units of alcohol on one occasion? Would you say daily, weekly, monthly or never?"

The share that has used cannabis once or more is measured by the question: "Have you ever tried cannabis? Cannabis includes cannabis, marijuana, cannabis oil, skunk and sensimilla."

The share that has used cannabis in the past 12 months is measured by the question: "Have you tried or used cannabis in the last 12 months?"

Please note that the questions below were published in Statistikkbanken between 2018 and 2022. Starting from 2023, data on addictive medications is no longer collected in the survey.

The share that have used sleeping pills for the last 12 months has been measured by the question: "In the past 12 months, have you used prescription sleeping pills? (For example, Imovane, Zopiclon, Stilnoct, Adodorm, Flumipam)."

The share that have used sleeping pills daily has been measured by the question: "Have you used sleeping pills of that kind daily or almost daily over a period of at least one week?"

The share that have used tranquillizers in the past 12 months is measured by the question: "In the past 12 months, have you used prescription tranquillizers? (For example, sobril, Valium and Vival")

The share that have used tranquillizers daily is not included in Statistikkbanken because of small numbers.

The share that have used pain killers in the past 12 months is measured by the question: "In the past 12 months, have you used prescription pain killers? (For example, Paralgin Forte or Nobligan)

The share that have used pain killers daily is measured by the question: "Have you used pain killers of that kind daily or almost daily for a least one week?"

Note: The questions on smoke and snus goes to people 16-74 years old. While the questions on alcohol and medication goes to people 16-79 years and the questions on cannabis to 16-64 years old.

Classification of region is used in the alcohol and cannabis statistics.

Classification of Residential areas

Persons are grouped according to sparsely populated areas or densely populated areas. Sparsely populated areas include clusters of houses with less than 200 inhabitants. Densely populated areas include areas with 200 inhabitants or more, and a distance between houses - as a main rule - not more than 50 meters.

Classification of education (NUS)

Highest level of attained education divided in three levels; basic, secondary and tertiary education for data on alcohol and cannabis, and four levels; basic, secondary, tertiary and unknown or no completed education for smoking and snus.

Classification of county is used in the smoking and snus statistics.

Name: Tobacco, alcohol and other drugs

Topic: Health

Division for health, care and social statistics (330)

Statistics on smoking and snus are divided by county level, while statistics on alcohol and drugs are divided by region and area of residence.

Data on smokers and snus-users is collected quarterly and published annually at the beginning of each year.

For alcohol and other drugs the data is usually collected every spring and published during the autumn the same year. But in 2023, the survey were conducted over two quarters, both in the spring and the autumn.

Please notis that the collection of medication use ended in 2022, so these figures are no longer updated.

Statistics Norway reports annual figures on smoking to the OECD and NOMESKO.

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The final data is anonymised and sent to Sikt – Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research

Smoking: The purpose of the survey is to obtain information about smoking habits in Norway. Statistics Norway has collected data on smoking habits since 1973 and on snuffing habits since 2005 (quarterly since 2008). The data is collected on commission from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI).

Alcohol: The purpose of the survey is to map the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs in different groups of the population. The survey helps to form the basis for measures and evaluation of tools in the field of substance abuse. The survey is carried out on behalf of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI).

Statistics and data are used by the authorities, such as the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), the Directorate of Health, and other research communities in Norway, the general public, and the media.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

The statistics on smoke and snus cover a representative sample of persons living in Norway aged 16–74 years. While the statistics on alcohol and drugs cover a representative sample of persons living in Norway 16-79 years old. (People in institutions are not part of the population).

The questions about smoking habits are asked as a part of the quarterly Holiday and Travel Survey. The Statistics Norway’s population database is used to define the populations and draw the samples. In addition, information about the level of education is linked from register.

The survey is based on a representative sample of 2000 persons in the age of 16-74 years each quarter, in total 8000 persons per year. In the course of a year, four surveys with a total net sample of almost 4 500 are carried out. The results are published for the year as a whole.

Statistics Norway has conducted surveys on smoking habits since 1973. Since 2008, the survey also includes questions about Norwegians’ use of snuff on a quarterly basis.

The questions on alcohol and cannabis are asked as a part of the Survey on Alcohol and tobacco, and the data is collected on behalf of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI). Statistics Norway has conducted the survey annually since 2012.

The population are persons from private households, and a sample of 3000 is drawn among persons 16-79 years old. There is also an additional sample of 700 persons 16 to 30 years, to learn more about the young. Weights that correct this overrepresentation of young people, are described in the documentation report from the survey. The net sample is approx. 2200 people and the survey have a response rate of ca. 60 per cent.

The collection of smoke and snus data is primarily done by telephone interviews as a part of the Holiday and Travel Survey. The data collection on alcohol and drugs is also done by telephone, and the data is a part of the Survey on Alcohol and tobacco.

The data is collected by computer-assisted interviews. There are several procedures for electronically controlling the registration of answer in the questionnaire. In some cases the interviewer gets a “warning´´ when recording an answer, in other cases only values within certain pre-specified limits are accepted. In addition, there are checks that ensure that only valid codes for the answer categories are accepted.

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data.

Interviewers and everyone who works at Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality. Statistics Norway has its own data protection officer.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures where there is a risk of identifying individual data about persons or households.

The suppression method is used in these statistics to ensure this.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

Statistics Norway has collected data on smoking habits in Norway since 1973, and on habits of snuff use since 2005 (quarterly since 2008).

From 2014, Statistics Norway has decided to estimate weights to adjust for possible biases introduced by non-response. Using weights will affect the numbers somewhat, but the trend we have seen over many years will remain unchanged, even with weighted figures. The tabel shows weighted and unweighted numbers for 2012 and 2013.

From 1973 to 2008, three-year moving averages were estimated. A moving average is calculated as the average of results from three consecutive years, and this represents the middle of the three years. From 2009, Statistics Norway has decided to use the actual figures for each year.

The Alcohol and tobacco survey also weights its figures, and the scales correct for dropout rates and the fact that young people are oversampled. It is possible to read more about weighting and non-response in the documentation reports prepared for each survey. Data on alcohol use, cannabis and addictive medicines goes back to 2018, and are available in Statistics Norway's StatBank. (Figures on medication use are no longer collected from 2023 onwards).

Measurement errors are errors that occur during data collection and are caused by the survey instrument: the form, questionnaire or measuring device used for data collection may lead to the recording of wrong values. The respondent may also consciously or unconsciously, give erroneous data or interviewers may influence the answers given by respondents.

Processing errors are errors introduced during data processing in Statistics Norway, such as coding, data entry, data editing, imputation etc. Efforts have been made to minimise both measurement and processing errors by developing a control system in the questionnaire.

Sample size: The sample of the alcohol and drug survey is approx.2 200 people and when dividing the data into many subcategories, there will be fewer people per cell and the uncertainty in the numbers will increase.

Non response errors are errors by unit non-response, i.e. that the individual has failed to respond, or item non response, i.e. that the respondent has failed to respond to some but not all the questions in the survey.

The unit non-response in this surveys is between 35 and 45 per cent. For more information on biases caused by non-response, please see the publications for each Holiday and Travel survey for smoking and snus. In the documentation report for the Survey on alcohol and tobacco you can find more information on non-respons for alcohol and drugs questions.

Sampling errors arise from the fact that the estimates are based on a sample and not a census of the entire population. The sampling error is measured by the standard error which estimates the expected deviation between the survey estimate and the estimate that would have been obtained if a complete enumeration had been carried out.

The exact standard error is not calculated for this survey. However, by using the figure below one can find the expected standard error. The number of observations for smoke and snus use is about 4500-5000, while it is ca. 2100-2200 for alcohol and cannabis.

Figure 1. Expected standard error for observed percentages by different sample sizes

In connection with a review of the production process for the smoke and snus statistics, figures for several previous years were corrected in the StatBank on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. Below is a summary of which tables and years have been corrected.

Tables 05307, 11426 and 07662

• Figures for the percentage of daily smokers and occasional smokers for 2021 and 2022 were corrected on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. The correction is due to an update in the method for post-stratification survey weighting and involves small changes.
• Figures for the percentage of daily smokers and occasional smokers for 2015 and 2016 were corrected on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. The correction is due to an error in the sample population and involves small changes.

Tables 07692, 11427 and 12510

• Figures for the percentage of daily users of snus and occasional users of snus for 2021 and 2022 were corrected on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. The correction is due to an update in the method for post-stratification survey weighting and involves small changes.
• Figures for the percentage of daily users of snus and occasional users of snus for 2015 and 2016 were corrected on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. The correction is due to an error in the sample population and involves small changes.

Table 11426

• Figures for the percentage of daily smokers and occasional smokers, by education, for 2009-2022 were corrected on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. The correction is due to a change in the grouping of educational levels and involves small changes. Previously, individuals with «No education and preschool education» were grouped under «Basic school level». These have now been placed under «Unknown or no completed education» instead.

Table 11427

• Figures for the percentage of daily users of snus and occasional users of snus, by education, for 2008-2022 were corrected on January 18, 2024, at 08:00. The correction is due to a change in the grouping of educational levels and involves small changes. Previously, individuals with «No education and preschool education» were grouped under «Basic school level». These have now been placed under «Unknown or no completed education» instead.