School-age smoking rate plunges 50% in 12 years

The percentage of school-aged children smoking in Ireland has almost halved since 1998 and the likelihood is that the country will be effectively smoke-free by 2025.

Figures highlighted by the Irish Cancer Society yesterday show that little more than one in 10 young people in Ireland now smoke.

According to a Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, more than one fifth of young people (21.2%) were considered as ‘current smokers’ in 1998, compared to 11.9% in 2010.