Tobacco consumption has become the primary cause of avoidable deaths in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) was quoted by the local press as saying on Monday.

The organization said 12 percent of all deaths in the continent are now attributed to cigarette consumption.

In Europe, which accounts for 15 percent of the world's population, one-third of diseases are related to tobacco, said the WHO.

In most European countries, the poor are more prone to smoking than the rich and a smoker is two times likely to die than a nonsmoker between 35 and 69 years old, according to the WHO.

Spain's National Committee for Prevention of Tobacco Addiction said tobacco consumption has been stabilized among 30 percent of the country's adult population (38 percent among men and 23 percent among women).

In some European and Asian countries, the rate of tobacco consumption tends to be higher among men, with smokers accounting for 40 percent of the total male population in Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Turkey.

Source: Xinhua