A cigarette smoking prevalence tracker survey has been conducted in Ireland since 2002. Initiated by the Office of Tobacco Control, when this office was dissolved in 2010 the survey was continued by the Health Service Executive. The survey involves a monthly, nationally representative telephone poll of 1,000 randomly selected people aged 15 years and over.

The smoking prevalence question in the survey is ‘Do you smoke one or more cigarettes each week, whether packaged or roll your own?’ In addition, demographic information on gender, age, socio-economic group and region is collected. The basic information from the survey has been available in previous years. However, in 2014 the HSE published a detailed report on the patterns and trends up to and including 2013.1

Results outlined in the report show that the overall prevalence of cigarette smoking in 2013 was 21.5%. This was higher among men (22.9%) than women (20.2%). Smoking was most prevalent among the 18–24-year-old age group (30.7%), followed by the 25–34-year-old age group (28.1%). The lowest prevalence was among those aged 65 and older (9.7%). Of note, the prevalence among those aged 15 to 17 years was 13.3%.

The highest prevalence rates were found among the lower socio-economic groups (C2 and DE) at 24.6% and 25.9% respectively. The lowest rates were among higher socio-economic groups (AB) at 13%, and farmers at 15%. There was very little difference in smoking rates by region.

An analysis of trends showed that overall cigarette smoking rates had declined by 6.6% since 2003, which equates to more than 104,000 fewer smokers in Ireland in 2013. This decline was evident in all age groups but was most pronounced in the 25–34-year-old age group (16.1%) and least evident in the 15–17-year-old age group (1.5%). All socio-economic groups have seen a downward trend since 2003. The largest decreases were in the C2 group (11.1%) and the AB group (10.2%), with the smallest decrease among farmers (0.7%).

Trends in daily consumption of cigarettes, by category of smoker, were also reported. While regular smokers have consistently been the largest group since 2003, there is a trend towards lower levels of consumption. In 2013, 57.5% of all smokers were in the occasional or light categories. Moreover, in the last two years there has been a decrease in the proportion of regular smokers from 39.8% to 36.2% and a 3% increase in the number of occasional or light smokers. Heavy smokers have declined by 2%.

1 Hickey P and Evans DS (2014) Smoking in Ireland 2013: synopsis of key patterns and trends. Dublin: Health Service Executive. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23200/