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Smoking rates in Australia drop by 10 pct in last 20 years: statistics

CANBERRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Smoking rates in Australia have fallen by almost 10 percent over the last two decades, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday.

Released as part of the World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the ABS figures showed that while nearly a quarter of all adults were smokers in 1995, the figures have dropped by almost 10 percent compared with 2015.

In a statement on Wednesday, Louise Gates, director of Health at the ABS, said that young adults in particular are choosing not to take up smoking, with the increasing cost and health implications among the biggest reasons as to why.

"Just over one in seven (14.5 percent) adults were smokers in 2014-15 compared with nearly one in four (23.8 percent) in 1995," Gates said.

"In particular, rates of daily smoking have decreased considerably among younger adults (18-44 year olds). In 2014-15, 16.3 percent of 18 to 44 year olds smoked daily compared with 28.2 percent in 2001. This drop is due to people quitting and people not starting to smoke.

"(Also in 2015), 60 percent of younger adults (18 to 44 years) had never smoked and 23 percent were ex-smokers."

Despite the overall outlook showing that Australians were increasingly shunning cigarettes, the ABS said there were still variations across the country.

According to Gates, rural areas had the highest rates of smoking (20.9 percent) while inner city areas had the lowest rates (13.0 percent). She said the current smoking rate for regional Australia was similar to the inner city level of a decade ago.

Also, while men had historically taken up smoking in greater numbers than their female counterparts -- with 27.3 percent of men and 20.3 percent of women admitting to being smokers in 1995 -- Gates said that young females were now smoking more than males.

"Interestingly, rates of smoking amongst young adults (18 to 24 years) are similar for both men and women (16.2 percent and 17.3 percent respectively)," she said.

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