The number of smokers in Ireland has decreased by an estimated 80,000 people over the past three years.
According to the annual Healthy Ireland Survey, the prevalence of smoking has dropped from 23% in 2015 to 20% in 2018.
The survey is funded by the Department of Health and conducted by Ipsos/MRBI.
New plain packaging with health warnings was cited by 23% of smokers as a good motivation to quit.
The research also shows that 40% of smokers have made an attempt to quit in the past 12 months.
This year's survey focused on the key health issues in relation to the differences between more affluent and more deprived areas.
In deprived areas 26% of people smoke, 43% binge drink, and 33% have long standing illnesses compared to those in more affluent areas where 16% of people smoke, 33% binge drink, and 24% have long standing illnesses.
Alcohol consumption figures for 2018 show that 37% of the population binge drink. That is where a person consumes six or more standard units in one drinking occasion.
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Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Head of Health and Wellbeing at the Department of Health said it is encouraging to see that there are fewer people smoking and fewer people taking up the habit.
However, Kate O'Flaherty warned that there is still a lot of work to do in improving these statistics and that it was disappointing to see that many younger adults were still smoking.
"There are still differences in people who live in more less well off areas, who are more likely to smoke.
"And it's also disappointing to see our younger adults, people in their 20s and 30s, (28%) are still smoking. So that's something we need to work harder [on], to convince younger smokers not to start in the first place."
She also said the number of people who binge drink needed to be drastically reduced.
Main Findings
Smoking
- 20% are current smokers; down from 22% last year and 23% in 2015-16
- 17% are daily smokers down from 19% last year
- 44% of all who smoked in the last 12 months have attempted to quit
Alcohol
- 37% of drinkers binge drink on a typical drinking occasion
- Drinkers from more disadvantaged areas are more likely (43%) to binge drink than those from more affluent areas (33%)
- 8% of drinkers have failed to do what was expected of them as a result of drinking
Diet and Nutrition
- 15% of young people under 24 drink sugar sweetened drinks daily
- 34% of people consume at least one unhealthy food item daily
- 86% of people drink water at least once a day
General Health
- 25% reported receiving the flu vaccine during the previous winter, with 66% of over 65s receiving the vaccine.
- 66% have had their blood pressure measured during the past 12 months
Health Service Utilisation
- 74% of people have visited a GP in the past 12 months
- 8% have used a GP out of hours service
- 10% have used an emergency department in a public hospital
Oral Health
- 79% describe their oral health as very good
- 47% have visited a dentist in the past 12 months
Speaking at the launch, Minister of State for Health Promotion Catherine Byrne said: "There are some positive and encouraging results in this year's survey, in particular the drop in smoking rates for the second year running. However, there is also no room for complacency".
"It is very obvious that some groups in our society still have a greater risk of poor health; we need to find better ways of reaching out to these people and helping them to live healthier lives."
This is the fourth annual survey of over 7,500 people aged 15 and over living in Ireland and gives an up-to-date picture of the health of the nation and reports on many lifestyle behaviours, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, oral health and health services.
