Smoking incidence falls

The incidence of tobacco-smoking in Japan has fallen to 17.9 percent according to figures compiled during Japan Tobacco Inc’s most recent Japan Smoking Rate Survey, which was conducted in May.
The survey, which has been carried out annually since 1965, showed the smoking incidence down by 0.3 of a percentage point, from 18.2 percent in 2017.
The incidence of smoking among men was down by 0.4 of a percent point to 27.8 percent, while that among women was down by 0.3 of a percent point to 9.0 percent.
Using figures from the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, JT calculated that Japan’s smoking population stood at 18.80 million in May, down from 19.17 million in 2017.
The male smoking population was reckoned to be down from 14.26 million to 14.06 million, while the female smoking population was estimated to be down from 4.91 million to 4.74 million.
In announcing the survey results, JT said it was of the view that the smoking rate in Japan had been on a declining trend because of various factors, including the aging of society, growing awareness about the health risks associated with smoking, the tightening of smoking-related regulations, and tax and price hikes.
The company said it would continue its efforts to realize a society in which smokers and non-smokers could co-exist in harmony.
According to JT, the survey was conducted in May 2018 using a stratified two-stage sampling method, by mailing questionnaires to about 32,000 adult men and women using ‘tobacco products, including cigarettes, T-vapor products, pipe, cigar and other tobacco products’ nationwide. It said it had collected 19,442 (60.6 percent) valid responses from the population surveyed.