The decline of smoking in Canada
Posted by admin on 07/31/2011
The percentage of the Canadian population that smokes cigarettes has been dropping steadily since anti-smoking efforts began in earnest in the 1970s. In 1965, 49 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 smoked. Sixty-one per cent of males smoked while 38 per cent of females indulged in the habit.
The latest Statistics Canada figures show smoking rates are fairly stable. In 2010, 20.8 per cent of Canadians aged 12 and over — about six million people — were smokers. Five years ago, there were 5.9 million smokers or 22 per cent of the population. In 2003, 23 per cent of Canadians aged 12 or older, smoked.
Canadian smokers at a glance
People age 18 to 34 form the highest proportion of smokers, at 28 per cent.
More men than women smoke. In 2010, 24.2 per cent of males and 17.4 per cent of females smoked. That’s a jump from the 22.6 per cent of men who smoked a year earlier — and about the same as the rate in 2008. The percentage of women who smoked in 2010 remained about the same in 2010 and 2009, but was down significantly from the 18.5 per cent who smoked in 2008.
In 2009, smoking rates were lowest in British Columbia and Ontario, at 16 per cent and 18.6 per cent. That compares to 20.5 per cent and 24.5 per cent in those provinces in 2000.
Smoking rates in the territories are high: 35.5 per cent in Yukon, 35.7 per cent in Northwest Territories and 61.3 per cent in Nunavut. Smoking rates rose in Nunavut and Yukon in the first decade of this century.
Overall, the percentage of Canadians over the age of 12 fell by 22 per cent between 2000 and 2009.
Smoking facts and figures
The lowest smoking rates are among youths aged 12-15 (three per cent) and seniors (9.6 per cent).
Almost 60 per cent of senior non-smokers are former smokers. Just under 11 per cent of non-smokers between the ages of 12 and 19 are former smokers.
In 2009, just over 50 per cent of people between the ages of 20 and 24 had never smoked.
via The decline of smoking in Canada – Canada – CBC News.
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