According to a study published in 2016 by the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, more than six million tobacco smokers in the EU have succeeded in completely stopping their tobacco consumption with the help of e-cigarettes. Another nine million smokers have been able to at least reduce their dependence on tobacco cigarettes by using the electronic alternative. A  German study from 2017 found that 99 percent of all e-cigarette users are current or former tobacco smokers.