No. of 'daily smokers' plunged over the past decade

(123rf)

The number of South Koreans smoking every day has dropped significantly over the past 10 years, with government statistics showing Thursday that 15.4 percent of the population aged 15 or over were daily smokers as of 2021.

The joint study by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines daily smokers as people aged at least 15 years who smoke every day, and have smoked at least 100 cigarettes (five packs) throughout his or her life.

The latest figure in 2021 marked a 66 percent decrease from the figure in 2011, which was 23.2 percent. The figure has been inching downward since, due to an arrangement of measures to curb the nation's smoking.

Much of the decline was attributed to the decrease in the smoking rate among men, which has always been substantially higher than the rate among women. About 26.3 percent of South Korean men smoked in 2021, down from 41.6 percent in 2011. Female smoking went from 5.1 percent to 4.5 percent over the same period.

South Korea's anti-smoking measures have included raising the price of cigarettes, banning smoking at public areas and within 10 meters of bus stops and subway stations, and expanding the overall number of non-smoking zones.

In 2015, the country banned indoor smoking in all restaurants, expanding the existing law that prohibited smoking at eateries larger than 100 square-meters. In 2020, Yangjae-dong in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, became the first area in the country to have its entire district designated a non-smoking zone.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)