Turkey’s smoking population tumbling

The prevalence of smoking in Turkey is dropping “at unprecedented rates’, according to a story in the Hürriyet Daily News quoting World Health Organization figures.

Adult smoking prevalence is said to have decreased from 32.2 percent, or 16 million, in 2008, to 27.1 percent, or 14.8 million, in 2012, the WHO said in its global tobacco epidemic report for 2013.

“Although Turkey has had a long tradition of tobacco use and a high smoking prevalence, particularly among men, tobacco use is now declining at unprecedented rates,” said the report.

Smoking among men fell from 47.9 percent in 2008 to 41.5 percent in 2012, while the number of women smokers fell from 15.2 percent to 13.1 percent.

Turkey has been named as the only country that protects its entire population of 75 million people with every measure introduced by the WHO in its fight against tobacco.

Nevertheless, overall more than a quarter of Turkey’s adults continue to use tobacco.