Big drop in Israel’s smoking incidence

The incidence of smoking in Israel dropped by 2.9 percentage points in one year: between 2010-2011 and 2011-12, according to a story by Dan Even for Haaretz.

This figure is based upon surveys conducted by the Health Ministry’s Center for Disease Control, which is required to submit an annual report on the state of smoking in the country.

In 2011-12, a survey conducted among 2,964 Israelis aged 21 years and older indicated that 17.7 per cent of the adult population smoked cigarettes.

Among Jewish men, the figure was 20.9 per cent; among Jewish women, 12.0 per cent; among Arab men, 41.4 per cent; and among Arab women, 8.1 per cent.

The 2010-11 survey found that 20.6 per cent of the adult population comprised smokers.

It found, too, that, overall, 27.2 per cent of men and 14.5 per cent of women were smokers; while 19.8 per cent of Jews and 24.9 per cent of Arabs were smokers.

The report showed also that last year Israelis consumed 415 million packs of cigarettes, down 2.6 per cent from the 426 million packs consumed during 2011.