SMOKING in the UK has more than halved in just under 40 years, according to newly released official figures.
The huge rise in people kicking the habit resulted in a 25% drop in the prevalence of adult smokers from 45% in 1974 to 20% in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics' General Lifestyle Survey.
The significant drop has been linked to repeated campaigns to reduce smoking and the introduction of a smoking ban, which was implemented in Scotland in March 2006, a year before the rest of the UK.
A ban on cigarette advertising has also contributed to the decline, which has been welcomed by leading health professionals and organisations.
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said the fall over the last 40 years was "a testament to the effectiveness of combined legislation and awareness raising in tackling what is Britain's leading cause of preventable illness and premature death".
She added: "The uptake of smoking by young people and childhood exposure to second- hand smoke both, however, remain areas of concern.
"It is encouraging to see measures such as banning smoking in cars when children are present and the introduction of standardised packaging for cigarettes being seriously considered."
The survey shows that, despite the drop in smoking, there has been little change in the number of cigarettes smoked by those who do.
In 1974, men smoked an average of 18 cigarettes a day and women 13, and in 2011 men reported smoking 13 cigarettes per day and women 12.
It has also become less of a male-dominated habit, with the gap between male and female smokers falling from 10% to 2%.
The statistics also suggest married people are less likely to smoke than single people, and the unemployed are more likely to smoke than those in work.
British people are also making other improvements to their lifestyle by drinking on fewer nights of the week.
The proportion of men drinking at least five days a week fell from 22% in 2005 to 16% in 2011, while for women it dropped from 13% to 9% over the same period.
However, the figures do not look at the amount drinkers are consuming overall. This is thought to be 40% higher now than it was 40 years ago, despite a drop since 2004.
Alan Maryon-Davis, honorary professor of public health at King's College London, said the figures for alcohol and smoking were both very encouraging, but there was still a long way to go.
He said: "There is more work to be done educating the public about the dangers of drink.
"We haven't got labelling of drinks right and there is work to be done in terms of drinks promotions and the use of social media to target young people.
"There are also issues over price and availability.
"We need to get rid of really cheap discounts on alcohol.
"Of those that do drink, the harms are increasing – and they take time to show themselves."
The publication also looked at other areas of British life and revealed that there are now almost twice as many people living alone and eating a dinner for one every evening than there were 40 years ago.
In 1973, just 9% of people lived alone while in 2011 that statistic soared to 16%.
People aged 25-44 were five times more likely to be living alone in 2011 (10%) than they were in 1973 (2%).
Over the last 30 years, the proportion of married women has also fallen by one-third while the proportion cohabiting has increased three-fold.
However, there has been a huge increase in the number of single women, with 18% of women aged 18-49 single in 1979 compared to 43% in 2011.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article