Press Releases
Latest cigarette smoking prevalence rate announced (with photo)
The latest government survey results reveal that the overall prevalence of
smokers in Hong Kong has been on a continuous decreasing trend. The
percentage of daily cigarette smokers aged 15 and above in the local
population last year was 10.5%. Relevant figure in 2012 was 10.7%. The daily
cigarette smokers among teenagers aged between 15 and 19 also decreased from
2% in 2012 to 1.1% in 2015.
According to the latest Thematic Household Survey Report of the Census and
Statistics Department, there were 641 300 daily cigarette smokers in 2015,
with 538 300 or 83.9% being male and 103 000 or 16.1% being female.
In another school-based survey conducted from October 2014 to April 2015 on
smoking among students, the smoking prevalence among Primary 4 to 6 students
and Secondary 1 to 6 students was 0.2% and 2.7% respectively, representing a
decrease of 0.1 and 0.6 percentage points over that of the same period in
2012/13. The survey was done by the School of Public Health of the
University of Hong Kong (HKU) and commissioned by the Food and Health
Bureau.
Speaking at a press conference, the Under Secretary for Food and Health,
Professor Sophia Chan, said today (February 4) that the Government is
pleased to see that the overall prevalence of smokers is on a decreasing
trend from 23.3% in early 1980s to 10.5% in 2015.
This shows that the Government's multi-pronged approach in tobacco control,
including legislation, taxation, law enforcement, health promotion and
smoking cessation services, is proved to be effective with the support of
the community.
"Although our daily cigarette smoking prevalence continues to be one of the
lowest around the world, we cannot afford complacency, especially in the
face of the fact that the smoking prevalence of certain groups did not see
any significant decrease. For example, the smoking prevalence of female
remains at the level of 3 to 4% in the past 10 years. At the same time, we
also face challenges posed by e-cigarettes which have become more popular,"
she said.
According to the survey done by the School of Public Health of HKU, a
respective 2.6% and 9 % of Primary 4 to 6 students and Secondary 1 to 6
students were ever e-cigarette users, while 1.3% of the secondary students
were current e-cigarette users.
"The Government has much concern about the use of e-cigarettes among
students. The Government is therefore considering prohibiting import,
manufacture, sale, distribution and advertising of e-cigarettes through
legislation with an aim to protect public health. We hope that the relevant
amendment bill can be introduced into the Legislative Council soon. In the
meantime, the Government will continue to educate the public on the
potential harms of e-cigarettes," Professor Chan said.
She added that the Government will continue to push forward its tobacco
control work. It will work closely with its community partners, step up
health education and promotion to raise public awareness of the hazards of
smoking, second-hand and third-hand smoke. The Government will also enhance
the smoking cessation services to attract more smokers to quit smoking
effectively, aiming at bringing down the smoking prevalence further down to
single digit.
Ends/Thursday, February 4, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:07
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